ARWEN
VAN WALSUM

Vaderwond

An intimate photo series about growing up without a father

Vaderwond is a personal and vulnerable project in which the absence of a father figure takes center stage. Drawing from my own experience, growing up without a father, I explore how that void leaves traces on the body, mind, and identity. This series seeks to make an often-invisible subject visible, offering a space for recognition and understanding.

The images are a combination of black-and-white portraits, meaningful places, and archival material, created in the environment where I grew up. They depict the physical and emotional space where my father could have been, but which remains unmistakably empty. Through contrasts between coldness and softness, emptiness and intimacy, I capture the tension between loss and strength.

With this series, I aim not only to tell my own story, but also to break the taboo surrounding the subject and create space for conversations that are often avoided. It is an ode to the power of vulnerability and the search for wholeness, despite what is missing.