Series description
The photographer’s mother, Rita Stein-Grollman, passed away on 24 January 2023 from early onset dementia. This project is one of Grollman’s ways of processing her mother’s passing, not only as a tribute but also as a way of keeping her memory alive. The photographs were taken in and around the family’s old homes in Baltimore and New York City, an experience the photographer describes as healing, although ‘my grieving will not end anytime soon’.
Biography
Ilana Grollman (b. 2003; Baltimore, Maryland) is a photographer pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Emerson College. Her work has been exhibited in New York, Boston, and Colorado. She has also collaborated with her father to make multiple photo and poetry zines, and is a photographer for a few art magazines at Emerson. Her work serves as a coping tool and a method of exploring themes such as loss or the oddities of time.
The Spot Where Your Mother is Buried
The graveyard where the photographer’s grandmother is buried. This image was taken as a way to retrace Rita’s life. Baltimore, Maryland.
© Ilana Grollman, United States, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Are You Here?
The photographer went on a hike, with the purpose of taking images that she felt could symbolise her grief – this is one of those photographs. Boston, Massachusetts.
© Ilana Grollman, United States, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Your Sweater on the Bed
This photograph was taken in the family’s current apartment, with Rita’s sweater used to represent her on the bed she shared with the photographer’s father. New York City.
© Ilana Grollman, United States, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
My Father’s Drawing
This artwork was found in the family’s Baltimore home. Grollman loved the representation of the alien with a child and photographed it, to symbolise a connection with someone’s mother. Baltimore, Maryland.
© Ilana Grollman, United States, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Prayer or Reflection?
The photographer and her father, sitting at the dining table in their New York apartment. The image is supposed to feel dream-like, and to represent the idea that grief sometimes does not feel real. New York City.
© Ilana Grollman, United States, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
David Watching Home Videos
The photographer’s father, watching home videos in their New York apartment. Grollman ‘thought this was a touching moment showcasing our whole family on the screen’ and liked how it showed how her father had aged, with his younger self on the television. New York City.
© Ilana Grollman, United States, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
You Loved Williamsburg Bridge
Rita loved Williamsburg Bridge, so the photographer’s dad left this sticker there in her honour. He now touches it every time he walks the bridge. Williamsburg Bridge, New York City.
© Ilana Grollman, United States, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Your Old School
A photograph of the playground of Rita’s elementary school, taken while Grollman retraced her mother’s life. She felt that the empty chair adds a symbolic touch. Baltimore, Maryland.
© Ilana Grollman, United States, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards