Gannaway was working as a young photojournalist at the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire
when she was assigned in 2006 to work on a story focusing on a family—the St. Pierres—in which
the mother, Carolynne, was dying of liver cancer. During afternoons when the kids were at school
and Rich, the father was at work, it was Carolynne to whom Gannaway became closest.
‘It came to me only later — and I still have to remind myself of this in the frequent rush to get things
done — how crucial this time was. Time not making pictures is just as important as time making
them. One depends on the other.’
After Carolynne’s passing, Gannaway stayed in touch with the family. EJ—Carolynne and Rich’s
youngest son who had been four-years old when Carolynne died —became the focus of the
project.. EJ first appears as a small boy and is shown navigating his way to adulthood. Images
of everyday details, landscapes and portraits collectively create a longitudinal essay on the
impermanence of the human experience. The project is still ongoing.