Beth Burstein

MELT | MELT is a series of photographs of items that no longer exist. It is an ongoing study of impermanence and erasure. The beautifully fine crafted antique or pre-owned items I photographed for this project had been merchandise in my father’s antique store. Like other antique dealers and jewelers, he saves unsold or damaged sterling silver items and jewelry jumbled together in a large barrel until the market price of silver and gold is high enough to make a profit, and then sends them to the smelter to “melt”.

 Most recently, with antiques and sterling silver items barely desirable, my father decided to send to the smelter many pieces I thought were too beautiful to be destined for this fate. As the barrel filled, I was struck that each item, with its own story, would forever be gone. I felt an urgency to document this growing collection, and thankfully my father gave me the time I needed to photograph them.

 These pieces, created to last a lifetime for everyday use or special occasions, were about to disappear forever, many with specific uses that are now obsolete. Customs and tastes have changed. As I photographed it struck me that this act of melting would not only wipe away people’s treasures - it would eliminate the memories of these objects that are part of a vanished collective culture. Now my images hold the memories and histories of these once treasured objects, and I will continue to photograph then as long as the “melt” barrel is being filled. www.bethburstein.com