SIYU AWARD
SIYU AWARD

Debora Amiliay
Childhood Memories

 This project began with memories of childhood: racing outside, getting messy, turning everyday moments into adventures — the kind of imagination we stop allowing ourselves as we grow older. Each image was sketched and photographed in the studio, with props from my parents’ house. Then the project opened up: the missing parts were replaced by kids’ drawings. School children from the Zeitkindschule in Lucerne drew directly into the raw prints, which I then mixed into one. They were given direction, not correction: proportions didn’t need to make sense, and once something was drawn, it stayed. Suddenly the imperfect parts carry the most life. Children create without fear; they aim not for perfect results but to express. Play is not something we lose, but something we forget to allow.

Debora is a Swiss visual artist and photographer from Biel. Growing up with a French-speaking mother and a Swiss German-speaking father, she developed an appreciation for different perspectives and stories. Her work captures not only faces but the stories behind them: she believes every face holds a narrative, and travels the world to highlight the individuality of human experience.

Debora Amiliay

Childhood Memories

 

 This project began with memories of childhood: racing outside, getting messy, turning everyday moments into adventures — the kind of imagination we stop allowing ourselves as we grow older. Each image was sketched and photographed in the studio, with props from my parents’ house. Then the project opened up: the missing parts were replaced by kids’ drawings. School children from the Zeitkindschule in Lucerne drew directly into the raw prints, which I then mixed into one. They were given direction, not correction: proportions didn’t need to make sense, and once something was drawn, it stayed. Suddenly the imperfect parts carry the most life. Children create without fear; they aim not for perfect results but to express. Play is not something we lose, but something we forget to allow.

Debora is a Swiss visual artist and photographer from Biel. Growing up with a French-speaking mother and a Swiss German-speaking father, she developed an appreciation for different perspectives and stories. Her work captures not only faces but the stories behind them: she believes every face holds a narrative, and travels the world to highlight the individuality of human experience.