Preston Gannaway

Remember Me is about loss, childhood, and how the modern family structure evolves through life and death. In March of 2006, I pulled into the driveway of 62 Second St. in Concord, New Hampshire to first meet Rich and Carolynne St. Pierre. A reporter and I were assigned to tell...
Remember Me is about loss, childhood, and how the modern family structure evolves through life and death. In March of 2006, I pulled into the driveway of 62 Second St. in Concord, New Hampshire to first meet Rich and Carolynne St. Pierre. A reporter and I were assigned to tell the story of how a young couple was dealing with terminal cancer in the midst of raising three children. We ended up documenting the family almost two years. We were there when Carolynne died and continued telling the family’s story for the next 10 months as Rich, Carolynne’s sons EJ, 5, Brian, 13, and daughter Melissa, 15, struggled to cope with the loss of their mother. Through this, we formed a deep connection. In 2008, the story was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. Though my work has kept me moving around the country, I’ve gone back to New Hampshire to continue to photograph. I now consider Rich to be one of my closest friends. Melissa and Brian are both adults now, pursuing their education and individual lives. In the summer of 2013, Rich and EJ packed their things to make a new home in the nearby town of Chichester. What had become a family of two morphed again when Rich and his new girlfriend Kim decided it was time to live together. The same friend who had introduced Rich and Carolynne also introduced Rich and Kim. Carolynne endured difficult treatment in the hope that she’d be around long enough to imprint her children’s memories, fearing that EJ would be too young to remember her. Rich has a cake made, every year, to mark the age Carolynne would have celebrated. A few weeks ago, I photographed EJ on his 13th birthday. In the photographs that I make now, I am witnessing Carolynne’s son growing up. I’m making these images as a way to honor her, to give her back a glimpse of what she’s been missing. I began by documenting a story. The work has since evolved into broader reflections on growing up and the passage of time.
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from the series Remember Me
from the series Remember Me
from the series Remember Me
from the series Remember Me
from the series Remember Me
from the series Remember Me
from the series Remember Me
from the series Remember Me
from the series Remember Me
from the series Remember Me