Kelsey Zafiridis’s grandparents had a great garden. “Growing up I always loved going into the garden with them and helping or just grabbing some fruit off their trees after school,” Zafiridis tells Broadsheet.
For Zafiridis, food and family are inextricably linked. She says that in 2024 we’re increasingly disconnected from our food and, with housing becoming increasingly scarce, the idea of everyone having their own kitchen garden is getting rarer.
Seeing the way of life her grandparents had embraced slip away, Zafiridis wanted to spotlight elderly people who still lovingly maintain these gardens. She met the four subjects of her SALA exhibition through friends and family and spent an afternoon with each of them exploring the backyard spaces they’d lovingly nurtured.
Grans and their Gardens will run at The Stable Macclesfield from August 3 to September 1 as part of the SALA Festival. Shot on 35mm film, Zafiridis says “each photograph is a testament to the dedication and care that goes into cultivating these spaces”.
Through the exhibit, you will meet Viv Szekeres, an artist with a penchant for wearing red; Giuseppina Furina, who tends to chickens; Tony Lupino, who grows herbs, fruit trees and hot chillies and hangs sausages from the rafters of his garage; and Giuseppe Carbone, who can grow tomatoes in the dead of winter, thanks to his DIY greenhouse.
Grans and their Gardens runs from Saturday August 3 until Sunday September 1 at The Stable Macclesfield, 42 Venables Street, Macclesfield. Prints will be available to purchase at the venue or from the photographer directly.
www.kelseyzafiridisphotography.com/
@kelseyzafiridis.photography
Editor’s note: Kelsey Zafiridis is a regular freelance contributor to Broadsheet.
