Andoni Beristain’s motifs of grief

In 2022, Basque photographer Andoni Beristain’s mother died. Wanting to memorialise in images he resolved to take 63 photos – one for every year she was alive – culminating in his new book, Pieza Madre (Mother Piece). His mother had a hard life, but was full of generosity and joy. His photographs of her absence use yellow as a motif for grief, “the colour of bad luck but also of the sun”. These bright, immaculate images focus on some of the mundane objects of his mother’s life – beach chairs, umbrellas, an open fridge – and give them an exquisite lightness. “I talk about painful experiences, but my intention is always to do so from a positive, constructive perspective,” says Beristain.