Hiraeth

I ran across a word not long ago that intrigued me in a way that no other single word ever has: HIRAETH. It’s a Welsh word that is difficult to translate, but if you look it up you’ll find a common theme: homesickness.

“In the Welsh language there is a particularly beautiful word: ‘Hiraeth’. It has no direct English translation, but the general sense of the term is an overwhelming feeling of grief and longing for one’s people and land of the past, a kind of amplified spiritual homesickness for a place one has never been to.” - Oxford English Dictionary .

It’s a feeling I often get about the farmhouse where my dad and grandad grew up—even though I never actually lived there. Oddly I can get a similar feeling about a house or a structure I’ve never seen before—usually a farm or a ranch. I wish I knew why.

All of my photography projects are a labor of love for me, but this one in particular touches me deep in my soul.