History

When I was young, I started writing letters to people that I had never met. I’m not sure exactly what it was that drew me to correspondence with pen-pals, but the act of sending mail has been a comfortable and warm part of my life that I deeply adored ever since. There’s nothing quite like finding a new piece of mail in the box, waiting for you to read it. It’s probably the responses I get from people when they get my mail that’s kept me going with it. People seem to love getting mail as much as I do.

The first time I watched the movie Her, I was accompanied by my girlfriend at the time: Cynthia. We watched the movie together in a dark and almost empty theater. We cried together, and felt a loneliness that made us want to hold each other tightly. I have never forgotten the way this film made me feel.

In that film, the main character Theodore has a job where he writes letters on behalf of others, much in the same way someone might commission a painting from an artist or a song from a musician. I was absolutely enchanted and saddened by this concept. I couldn’t imagine someone else writing my correspondence for me, though I could understand this deep human need to connect to others but not to be able to put it correctly to words. At a certain point in the film’s plot, Theodore shrugs off a compliment about his work, saying

“They’re just other people’s letters.”

And I’ve thought a lot about that ever since.

About this Gallery

This collection is the result of that idea taking root within me, and growing into a desire to create a gallery of my written correspondence with others, much in the same way that Theodore’s character ultimately ends up publishing a book of the letters he wrote for others titled “Letters From Your Life”. It reminded me a lot about a book I stole a long time ago from a friend’s library: a book of published letters from the famous american writer Ernest Hemmingway. I used to carry that book around to so many places. None of his letters were published after his death.

I think there’s something so voyeuristic and fascinating about reading through letters.

I think much like any work of art, there’s an intrinsic intimacy that is felt by people who observe it. Like Edward Hopper’s snapshot paintings which were intended to replicate the act of quickly glimpsing into of someone else’s life, I wanted this website to be a similar concept. Small windows into moments of my life. The collection of physical mail i’ve collected over years has become my most treasured of my possessions. Although I started scanning these to ensure I’d never lose them, I’m glad I can also share some of the ones i’ve archived with you. Maybe I can do what Theo couldn’t. Either way, I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it makes sense. I present you with:

Letters From My Life, by Jaime Castro