Rise To The Sun, 2023

In the photo series Rise To The Sun Liv Burkhard took the question "Why do we leave and what do we hope to find?" inwards and back to were it all began; back to childhood, back to the Swiss countryside. She revisits the places in the surrounding nature of the house she grew up in, in hopes of reconnecting to the sense of wonder she felt, when she wandered up the creeks or ran through the orchards as a child. Instead though, she was met with feelings of nostalgia and estrangement. She quickly discovered that the innocent childhood memories were tainted by the years of teenage angst that followed. Although we will always carry parts of the landscapes, that've helped us build our perception of the world, within us, we will never be able to relieve experiencing them for the first time. We will never be able to see through the eyes of our child self again. This, in turn, might be the answer to the question, that lead the project and many of her past projects: We leave home, to be guided by a sense of genuine curiosity, to feel endless freedom, to make sense of the world by experiencing oneself in unfamiliar territories, just like we did growing up.