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They were organized by where they wound up after the storm.
“These were all found in West Asheville and [River Arts District],” Taylor Schenker points, showing one section of the new exhibit.
Schenker launched his project last year on social media, reconnecting people with the pictures she found along the Swannanoa River in the wake of Helene.
Now, it’s an opportunity for the public to see some of the snapshots in person at the exhibit, which is open to the public until Saturday, Oct. 11.
See the images from ‘Photos from Helene’ exhibition
From kids and loved ones in the kitchen, to an elderly couple just enjoying time together on the couch, or a boy playing his violin at the park, “Photos from Helene” shows people a slice of life in happy times.
When you look at them, it’s only natural to try and fill in the blanks in your mind.
“You can assume a story for each one of these,” Schenker said.
Those stories became her personal crusade, starting with a print of a dog she picked up.
“To just see, like how it’s snowballed,” Schenker said. “Yes, I’ve found hundreds of photos, but I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of photos sent into the project.”
About a hundred so far have been reunited with those people who lost them.
“Behind me we have all of the photos that have yet to be reunited,” Schenker told Queen City News.
There are wedding mementos. A photo of a bride looking into the mirror, and another woman beaming on her special day.
“That one I would love to find the owner of,” said Schenker.
These tattered-but-still-treasured links to the past mean something to someone, she stressed.
“I’m not a first responder, but I could collect photographs, and I could walk the rivers and collect them and reunite people with them,” Schenker says.
The images in the display are like a 4-by-6 window into the lives touched by Helene. Even though many of them are weather-worn, that just adds an extra layer to the story.
“A lot of these are really mangled,” said Jeff Kinzel, director of Little Animals Space. “So, it’s really interesting to see. Suddenly they become something else and sometimes they’re more interesting than just a snapshot.”
A picture of Samira Zoobi is one of those returned to the family. Samira lived in Asheville but grew up in Huntersville. She died in the flooding along the Swannanoa at 28.
“Photos From Helene” reunited a childhood picture with mother, Colette. It’s Samira holding her cat Zoey, the pet that later inspired some of Samira’s artwork.
“The only photo that has been reclaimed so far on behalf of somebody who passed. So that was a really special one,” Schenker says.
Police also sent her mom a photo of Samira, smiling as she held onto a big dog.
Her mother remains in shock over the loss of her child.
“Every day I think about how she passed, how scared she must have been, and wishing I could have spoken with her,” Colette Zoobi said. “[Samira] was always that voice that tried to lift others up and spoke up for those that needed it. It has been such a loss.”
On the one year after Helene, UNC Asheville held a special Sami Zoobi exhibition honoring her art and design work, part of a symposium on campus to mark the anniversary of the storm.
Sami, as her friends called her, worked as a graphic designer and printer after graduating from UNCA in 2018.
During the opening event, the New Media department is dedicating and renaming their gallery on the third floor of Owen Hall in Sami’s honor as The Sami Zoobi New Media Gallery.
Every snapshot that has been reunited via “Photos from Helene” gives solace to families like the Zoobis.
“When someone does comment and say, ‘Oh my gosh, I recognize this photo,’ that’s incredible,” Schenker said.
Now 365 days later, they’re sorted and handled with care.
“Family dog, or a family reunion, or a wedding, or whatever the event might have been, I know that people took these pictures for a reason because they wanted to save that memory,” says Schenker.
The room full of photographs is part of a bigger picture of loss that’s beyond description.
“Being able to help in that way has been really special,” she said.
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