In 2012 my husband and I downsized from our large family home in Kansas City, Missouri, to a small condo. We had a lot of stuff to get rid of. It was an emotional time, sorting through the things we’d accumulated over the years and all the memories associated with them, having to decide what to hang on to and what to let go of. On the first day of the estate sale I strung a backdrop from a tree in the front yard and did what any photographer trying to deal with a difficult personal situation would do: I took pictures.

My original intention was simply to document the items as they were sold to their new owners, but it quickly became clear that the recipients were colorful and fantastic and needed to be photographed as well. I ended up making portraits of them holding their newfound treasures.

—Gloria Baker Feinstein