The Second Memory 2004

Bea De Visser
11 minutes, 35 mm

Documentary portrait of Marketa Kulhanková, the woman who modeled for her husband, photographer for Agfa Berlin, in 1953. I found the book with the photos at a photo dealer in Prague. The photos of the woman in time and place just after World War II with her visible Jewish features suggested a hidden story. I tried to 'revive' the woman through 25 painted portraits that I digitized and animated as frames (The Skipping MInd, 1994).

During a world tour of this work, the woman was recognized by her granddaughter at the exhibition in the National Gallery in Prague. In 'The Second Memory' I visit Marketa Kulhanková in her house and photo studio in Prague at the time. Now at an advanced age, I confront her with the animated portrait that was painted in 1993 based on the photos her husband took of her in 1953. During the film, not only does the memory of the photo recordings revive, but Marketa sees herself in front of her moving in front of the camera for the first time (deep fake avant la lettre).

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