“Because technology has changed so much I often had to retouch colours or image qualities on Photoshop. My choice of lenses, format of cameras and films were dependent on the original image. These photographs of my mother were taken when she was 5 or 6 growing up in South Africa. It’s very difficult to get the right angle and lighting. The moment when the original pictures were taken happened naturally in a snap, while its re-creation can take several hours of shooting. To recreate these photos I used a medium format camera, which was quite tricky because the image you see through the viewfinder is upside down and reversed. It was funny trying to direct it, asking my mother to turn left or right when what I was looking at was the complete opposite. For this one I took 12 pictures for each pose, but sometimes I take hundreds; the tiny details make all the difference. It’s amazing how you can always recognize the person in the end, ageing is an ever-changing process by way of which familiarity and permanence can be found.”