Looking Back

The Science

This photograph captures the reflections of a research participant in a longitudinal ethnographic project (2001–2024) exploring lived experiences of language in migration settings. Spatial and temporal dimensions play a significant role in this project, illustrating the constant transformations participants undergo. These existential experiences are also expressed by poetic representations, as illustrated by the poem “Myself as another” published in this issue of Consilience Journal. Recurrent narratives self-constructions emerge within this project from states of linguistic and cultural in-betweenness. Poetic and visual elements have the potential to convey an emotional understanding of these existential transitions, triggering the imagination of the receiver.

The Medium

This is a photograph taken outdoors on a rainy day in a small, anonymous town somewhere in Europe. It has been digitally edited (in Photoshop) to appear in black and white with strong contrasts, emphasising the mirrored reflections of an anonymous figure in a puddle of water. The subject, shown with the back turned to the viewer, is captured in a seated position, possibly reflecting on “a time that has gone” and contemplating life change through migration, while gazing into the open air.

Artist Bio

Katrin Ahlgren is a Swedish interdisciplinary researcher (based in Stockholm, Madrid and Paris) focusing on the lived experience of language and social justice in contexts of exile. She also works as a translator of dramatic texts and has contributed to performances at the Swedish Royal Dramatical Theatre and La Comédie Française. Building on this work, she has developed a poetic representation practice to disseminate oral research narratives. In recognition of this practice, she has been awarded the Bernadotte Scholarship by the Swedish Academy. Currently, she is a research fellow at the Paris Institute of Advanced Study. Her next project is related to photography and will be carried out in an artistic residency in Japan.

Poem

Please see the associated poem in this issue of Consilience.