Abdulhamid Kircher - Rotting From Within

Kircher explores identity, patriarchy, trauma and reconciliation in a diaristic project between Berlin and Turkey. Rotting from Within refers to a feeling described by Abdulhamid Kircher upon the unearthing of his father’s history: the discovery of the generational trauma within the patriarchs of his family and the subsequent task of uncovering the artist’s self amongst the things passed down. Beginning at the age of seventeen with the reacquaintance of his estranged father, recently released from incarceration for selling drugs and attempted murder, Kircher’s self-led journey into photography coincided with a reflection on his past. Born in Berlin and fleeing to the USA at a young age, the camera provided an entry point for intimacy and familiarity with his father and his Turkish culture and heritage while fostering a deep relationship with the photographic medium and its possibilities.Rotting from Within weaves a deeply personal, autobiographical thread with photographic vig