![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Orloff-head-shot.jpg\")
<\/a>Orloff<\/p><\/div>\n
Orloff is one of 43 photographers to have work included in the world’s longest running juried photography exhibition, which over the next year will travel to a number of United Kingdom venues, including the Royal Albert Hall in London.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m truly honored to have my new work chosen for this exhibition,\u201d she said. \u201cCompeting with that many people from all over the world and then presenting with such talented colleagues is really humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n
The honor means even more to the artist because it features a photo from her family archive.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough the title \u2018Remembering Uncle Philip 2\u2019 suggests nostalgia for a lost relative, I don\u2019t actually recognize the man in the photo; the title is ironic and speaks to the fallibility of memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Remembering-Uncle-Philip-2-by-Deborah-Orloff.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cRemembering Uncle Philip 2\u201d from \u201cElusive Memory,\u201d color photograph on rag paper, by Deborah Orloff<\/p><\/div>\n
She began reflecting on the photographic past following the death of her father in 2007.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral years ago, I inherited thousands of neglected prints and slides that had been in my father\u2019s basement, where they were damaged by flooding. I started photographing them in the studio, not knowing what I would do with the images, but hoping to salvage some of the family pictures for posterity,\u201d Orloff said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until I saw them enlarged on a computer screen that I recognized their poignancy and greater relevance: I saw metaphors for loss and the fragmentary, ephemeral nature of memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cElusive Memory\u201d focuses on those severely damaged photos.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily photographs provide glimpses of the past and elicit memories, shaping narratives of personal history and identity,\u201d Orloff said. \u201cPictures reinforce recollections, but do we really remember our past, or have we simply absorbed personal photographs into fabricated memories and shaped our perspective accordingly?<\/p>\n
In 2019, Orloff received an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council for \u201cElusive Memory.\u201d<\/p>\n To see more of Orloff\u2019s work, visit her website at deborahorloff.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Royal-Photographic-Society-logo.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/a>\u201cThe connection between photography and memory is enigmatic, and \u2018Elusive Memory\u2019 is a meditation on this dubious relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n