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Matinee: 'In Dad's Chair'
17 June 2023
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
So we're pleased to present the 505th in our series of Saturday matinees today: In Dad's Chair.
Directed and produced by David Schwartz five years ago, this 7-minute video features Cleveland photographer Angelo Meredino's project In Dad's Chair.
We've been holding onto it for a special occasion. And what more appropriate one than Father's Day, which will be observed tomorrow.
Merendino begins the piece by telling us his parents met in January 1951 and two weeks later on Valentine's Day, his father proposed. They were married nearly 63 years during which they raised 11 children. Several of whom liked to pile onto Dad's chair when he wasn't there.
But when he came into the room he'd give them the "thumb twist" and they'd vacate Dad's chair for Dad.
Of course, the big thumb twist comes for us all sooner or later and when it came for his parents, Merendino inherited the chair.
He moved it to his studio where it provided a space for contemplation. He wondered what his Dad had thought about sitting in that chair all through the years. He wondered about his own life.
This led to a photo project about the people in his life.
He felt social media was distancing him from the people that mattered to him. So he decided to invite them to the studio, make some coffee or tea and have a chat.
He would sit them in Dad's chair and take a photograph of them. At the time of the video, he'd done 50 portraits, many of whom are shown in the video.
He found there was no substitute for spending time with the people you care about.
Amen.