The Moments We Leave Behind

…is a capstone series that documents human connection, solitude, and empty public spaces where connection has happened or is happening, but is absent in this moment. While searching for these photographs, I became overly aware of how people behave in public, taking mental notes on where I should return with my camera to build this series. Once I began to accumulate photographs, I hung them together to begin a process of selection. Here is where I made the conscious decisions of which photos, together, told my story, and which, even though they were what I wanted stylistically, didn't conceptually benefit my series. After repeating this process until I was satisfied, I began creating three groups to be displayed on the silk organza fabric. As I placed my images into sections, I considered which ones most visually complemented their immediate neighbors. This capstone photographic series was then printed on Jacquard Ink Jet Silk Organza fabric, giving the fabric its own presence. The sheer, flowing material conveys the concept of organic change and fleeting moments.

Eva Engel, The Moments We Leave Behind, Jacquard Ink Jet Silk Organza fabric, 120 ×156 in, April 2026