Loli Kantor’s Call Me Lola is an evocative photo essay by the acclaimed Israeli-American artist and documentarian, Loli Kantor, spanning over two decades of meticulous work. Driven by a need to reconnect with her roots, Kantor has delved deep into her family archives, particularly those of her Polish-born father, a doctor and political activist, to construct a tender tribute to her mother, Lola, who died in childbirth. Lola remains present in Kantor’s life through photographs and family stories, making her mother’s memory tangible despite the absence of personal memories. Call Me Lola: In Search of Mother weaves together historical family documents and Kantor’s contemporary photographic interpretations, constructing a layered and intimate reflection on some of the most challenging events of the 20th century—war, displacement, love, loss, trauma, and grief. Over the years, Kantor retraced her family’s history by visiting and photographing meaningful places such as Poland, France, Ukraine, Germany, and Israel, grounding her personal journey in these locations.
The book provides a deeply personal narrative of identity and legacy. Kantor’s mother, who evaded the Nazis during the German occupation of Poland by passing as a Polish Catholic, is portrayed through artifacts and documentation collected by her father. Kantor’s father died unexpectedly at age 50, and her family history is marked by further loss: her grandparents perished in the Holocaust, and her brother Ami, her only remaining blood relative, also passed away at age 50. This relentless loss deeply shapes Kantor’s narrative as she reflects on a lineage marked by survival and remembrance.
Throughout Call Me Lola, Kantor integrates self-portraits, childhood photographs, and annotations on artifacts such as her mother’s passport. This layering of archival material with her own reflections serves as an exploration of her connection to these objects and memories. The book includes a conversation with her daughter, Danna Heller, in which Kantor describes her practice of annotating the archives: “By annotating parts of the archive and leaving the notes visible, I make the documents my own. The hand notations reveal my research process and discoveries; they connect me to the document, and I become a part of it.”
Accompanied by an essay from historian and curator Dr. Nissan N. Perez, Call Me Lola also addresses the broader context of familial memory and the way archival materials can reflect both absence and presence.
Call Me Lola stands as the culmination of Kantor’s lifelong journey through her family’s past—a poignant meditation on identity, memory, and the lasting resonance of history.