In 1970, Luuk van Raamsdonk’s (NL) grandfather disappeared without a trace. When he eventually returned, he never offered an explanation for his absence. While investigating this family secret, Van Raamsdonk discovers a clue in the family archive leading to Elora, a small village in Canada, where his grandfather had a secret relationship while his grandmother, back in the Netherlands, was pregnant with his father.

More than fifty years later, Van Raamsdonk’s father also had an affair. Though separated by time, both men grappled with conflicting desires and the consequences of the choices they made, ultimately leaving traces that continue to shape the family today. My Sweet Elora is a reflection of a family history in which tensions seem to echo across generations. To better understand this history, he travels to Elora himself to photograph the landscape and explore the places where memory and imagination intersect, while searching for traces of a history that had been consciously hidden.

My Sweet Elora brings together new photographic work, archival material from the Wellington County Museum & Archives, and the artist’s personal family images. Landscapes, self-portraits, and everyday objects become part of a visual investigation into absence, longing, and the patterns passed from grandfather to father and ultimately to son. By weaving together these different temporal layers, Van Raamsdonk creates a dialogue between past and present. He explores how family secrets, desire, and unspoken histories continue to resonate and impact future generations. The project makes visible what often remains hidden within families and asks how the past continues to shape the lives of those who follow.

The book includes an essay by Dr. Karen Vallgårda, Associate Professor of History at the University of Copenhagen, titled ‘The Ambivalent Politics of Family Secrecy and Exposure’, which explores the tension between revelation and concealment within personal histories, and the ethical implications that arise when descendants choose to bring a family’s hidden past into public view.