remains of the past

the intention of the photographic series remains of the past was to linger at the threshold of memory and time, to document the abandoned sanatoriums of tskaltubo now inhabited by georgians displaced by the abkhazian war three decades ago. i entered the empty halls not as an intruder, but as a silent observer. tskaltubo once thrived as a sanctuary known for its mineral springs where soviet workers received state-sponsored convalescent repose. when the soviet union dissolved in 1991, the guests evaporated as mist. in 1992, war tore through abkhazia, scattering two hundred thousand souls across the land. many found refuge within the walls of the abandoned sanatoriums, rooms now shared by strangers bound by loss. nearly six thousand internally displaced citizens remain inhabiting the ruins of what was intended to heal.

i aimed to reveal not the intimate details of their existence, but the atmosphere of their environment. i moved through the peeling walls of corridors, allowing the whispering conversations, the rustling of torn curtains as the breeze drifted through shattered windows and the echo of footsteps upon creaking wooden floorboards speak for themselves. i realized then, that what remains of the past is as ever alive.