The Image: Stella Kalaw, "Postcards"

© Stella Kalaw, Postcards from the series "Family Spaces"

The long vertical space was so difficult to adorn that we left this wall bare for at least a year after moving in to our new home. We attempted to tile together some 4x6 pictures of urban environments I'd taken with a Lomo camera. However, the adhesive failed a couple of days later and we found a few pieces lying on the floor. We took them all down and it was bare again for months. It was not until we found out that Lomo made their own clips that the idea of the postcards were incorporated. Through the years, I've accumulated enough to fill a shoebox and it seemed probable that we could cover both walls when we combined them with the pictures.

I took this image as part of the Family Spaces project. I framed my viewfinder to include the toilet in the corner to add an interesting and unexpected element to the picture. Subconsciously though, I must have been inspired by a few restaurants I've visited in the past where they hung memorabilia in the bathroom. I picked up a Lomo camera after I moved away from a commercial career several years ago. I was in a midst of a deep creative block and was in search of a different path for myself. Looking at this picture shows me how far I've gone and how much I've accomplished since that challenging period in my life. The postcards are personal relics of the way my family and friends used to communicate to each other before the advent of social media and mobile digital devices. I seldom receive them anymore. Facebook with its instant updates no matter the location or time difference has replaced the ritual of writing a postcard.

- Stella Kalaw