Sylviane Royer
Tregunc, France
75 years old
My
grandmother.. currently residing
in Tregunc, FR but was
born on a train escaping
Germany during World War
II. She is the defintion
of strong- she helped
my mom when I was born,
raised me every chance
she could. I would not be
where I am today without
the dedication my grandma
has given me. I remember
painting landscapes with
her in our childhood
home, where she taught me
about colors, and about
doing things that made
me happy, even if others
thought it was ridiculous.
I am so grateful I was
able to photograph her in
person, safely, and to
see them after a whole
year of distance. She
makes everything better,
even when the world is
going to shit.
Below is her response -
“In this moment, everything is shit. With covid, I am extremely sad to not be
able to see my family, especially my daughter who I have not seen in over a year.
We are stuck in as town we just moved too a few years back, we can’t do anything,
we can’t walk outside without a paper, we can’t go grocery shopping whenever we
want. I miss people. I miss the United States and I miss my family. We are all
alone, without any care for whether we will die this way, in our homes, wihtout
anyone around.”
“En ce moment, tout ces’t la merde. Avec covid, je suis extrêmement triste de ne
pas pouvoir voir ma famille, en particulier ma fille que je n’ai pas vue depuis
plus d’un an. Nous sommes coincés dans la ville où nous venons de déménager il
y a quelques années, nous ne pouvons rien faire, nous ne pouvons pas marcher
dehors sans papier, nous ne pouvons pas faire les courses quand nous le voulons.
Les gens me manquent. Les États-Unis me manquent et ma famille me manque. Nous
sommes tous seuls, sans nous soucier de savoir si nous allons mourir de cette
façon, dans nos maisons, sans personne autour.”
*I photographed my grandma in her Tregunc home, safely. December 2020.