Photographer: Samantha Sealy Series "I Hardly Knew Her"

Samantha Sealy feels abandoned and unknown. Sealy was born and now lives in Connecticut; she earned her BFA from the University of Connecticut. As a child she started playing with Polaroid cameras and film, which she found to be a bunch of fun. These days Sealy shoots all analogue, using a wide range of films - 35mm, Fuji Instax, and Impossible Project films; she manipulates her images with writing, burning, breaking, and superimposing. The effect of each one is like a tear in reality.

Sealy’s series I Hardly Knew Her is sometimes brutally, disparagingly honest and open. She even penned her unadulterated, tortured and torturous thoughts onto each photograph. The catalyst for this project is best understood in her own words.

Sealy explains: “This series began after almost a year went by without my taking a photograph. I’ve heard people say that art is their therapy or art is their escape. I spent years avoiding making “personal” work, but after the death of my mother in 2013 and the loss of relationships with almost all of those who surrounded me before, I wasn’t afraid to show my true feelings anymore because who would even see it? I Hardly Knew Her is as much as I am willing to show others about how I am today".

"After my mother died I thought that the people I loved & who loved me would always be there for me now that she couldn’t. But now I understand that because I seemed to be a person who always had a tragedy or some kind of unfortunate event befalling her, that they couldn’t be there for me anymore. Since then I’ve met a lot of temporary people. People who are lonely and need someone to listen and care but don’t have much energy to listen and care for me".

And when they feel better enough to find someone whom they can really live a life with, they leave and I don’t think they’ve learned much about me at all. They can tell you where I work, how old I am, where I went to school - but my passions, my past, and my dreams are a complete mystery. And if they can, they’re probably someone who I regret ever telling. 

“These photographs are as much as I can currently show without feeling embarrassed or like a burden, although they still make me feel like I'm a little bit of both.”

You can find more of her work on Tumblr, Flickr, and her website.