Bearers of Time and Memory
The Austrian photographer Eric Asamoah (b. 1999 in Linz; lives and works in Vienna and Paris) uses portrait photography to explore questions of identity, memory, and belonging—informed by transnational perspectives and lived experiences within the Ghanaian diaspora. His work is characterized by a subtle, contemplative approach and examines how individuals are seen and how they choose to be represented. Asamoah’s new project As Our Hearts Bow brings together two threads: in the first part, he engages with photographs from albums dating from the 1970s to the 1990s, mainly taken by the women in his family. These images not only document everyday realities and special occasions, but also illuminate the transmission of the photographic eye across generations. In the second part, Asamoah builds upon his archival approach to create a conceptual series centered on the shoes of his grandmother, Lucy. Their aged leather surfaces hold visible traces of time and experience, quietly bearing witness to a layered life.
This publication accompanies the exhibition As Our Hearts Bow at FOTO ARSENAL WIEN. With essays by Renée Mussai and the curator of the exhibition Mona Schubert.