To Hans

Description

My brother Hans was 38 years old when he was found dead in a Berlin hotel room. He had suffered a cardiac arrest, caused by drugs. His death was a fact, the way he died a taboo. For years and years, we -his family -did not speak openly about his addictions. But I had so many questions to ask Hans. Why did you get addicted, why not me? What happened that made you become addicted? How does addiction feel? Could I have done anything to prevent it? With this book I am breaking the taboo. The book reflects my feelings, thoughts and memories during my search for answers to the questions I could not ask Hans anymore. I visited Berlin, studied our family albums and talked to many people who dealt with addictions. The book will be accompanied by a video installation in which people who recovered from addiction answer my questions instead of my brother. Their story will be published in this book. It shows the human being behind addiction.

Vivian Keulards is a Dutch conceptual portrait photographer. She graduated in 2009 from the Fotoacademie Amsterdam. Her fascination for images and photography started earlier though. During her Communication Science studies at the KUN (University of Nijmegen, master's degree in 1995) she mainly focused on visual culture and imaging; she also loved to print in the darkroom. From 2010 to 2013 Vivian lived with her family at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado (U.S.A.). Vivian's portrait series are often created over a longer period of time and are narrative (conceptual). Children, adolescents and vulnerable groups are recurring subjects in her photography. Her series can be documentary or based on fine-art. Therefore, her work is shown on different platforms like photo festivals, galleries, newspapers and magazines. Her portraits have been published, exhibited and rewarded internationally and are part of public and private collections.