With the “The Way We Were” project Gerda Van Damme returns to the past, where the eye of the camera has preserved the instant moment. “The way we were” is a huge archiving project about lost times. In her archives she is always looking for the stories, the “drama” and the human relationships and that are hidden. Keeping the secrets intact, her paintings suggest and leave open the unknown. They invite for a new reading of what the photographer has captured, intentionally or by accident. This new reading is made concrete by the re-framing of the images and the "hors champs" which is generated through it. By using the miniature format (always on 20 x 20 cm or 25,4 x 25,4 cm wooden panels of varying thickness) and often black & white paint or fainted colours, the link to photographic archive is reinforced.

The archive is regularly expanded with new paintings. Below you find some examples.