Statement

When I was a child my parents told me that I was the only girl to be born in the Nemeroff family for many generations. Because my family was without any historical photographs of documents I had no reason for disbelief. I grew up to depend on my imagination for the answers. I dreamt of visiting the old country and taking refuge with distant relatives. I romanticized about being related to Diane Arbus, whose maiden name Nemerov is merely similar to mine.

Then one day last winter, I found these photographs in my father’s sock drawer. Hidden behind the talis and kippah were the treasures I had been searching for all those years. Am I the great, great granddaughter of a villainous Jewish pirate? Is the woman in the photograph the female predecessor my parents told me about so long ago?

The series “My father was a Pirate” has lead me to believe (fictional or not) that there are traditions in the Nemeroff family that go beyond tacos on Super Bowl Sunday.

Go Giants!

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Davida Nemeroff is a Toronto-based photographer. For more of her work, visit http://www.afikomen.ca