William Lord Conyngham and likely other members of the Conyngham family in their backyard pavilion. Photographer unknown.
The original home upon completion around 1881. Photographer unknown.
Quarantine with the Conynghams
While the world stood still for much of 2020, I turned my attention to sorting through a time capsule in a 34-room, 19th century mansion in the mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania. On the third floor of the 1881 Conyngham heirloom, an array of furniture, photographs, paintings, books, handwritten letters, personal belongings, and other paraphernalia lay scattered across multiple rooms. A memento of generations and memories gone by.
Though just objects, each piece had a story to tell, a reason to appreciate it, and an importance to the space it occupied. The photographs below reflect my main focus - an effort to bring these rooms back to life in a way that thoughtfully incorporated the objects left behind, and, hopefully, a space its original owners would smile upon. *A handful of scenes are of the second floor, which I had no hand in, but I felt they were complimentary to this series.*
In the end, all which we experience is a flicker. Embrace each season of life and be present. Write more letters by hand and make physical prints of your photographs. Go further and put them into a photo album. What physicality will be left behind from you for future generations?
Special thanks to my dear friend Zack Zelinsky for helping make this all possible.
You can read more about the history of Hillside Farms here.
More on my journey through this project here.
A corner of the mansion in 2018 before the third floor cleanup.
The mansion as it stands today.
