Blood Ties 2
This work continues to explore familial bonds, this time with the introduction of a second child into the mix. It investigates the complex and conflicting physical, psychological and emotional dynamics of my family, both immediate and extended.
I use the natural world in my images as a metaphor of shifting physical, psychological and emotional dynamics in which, like children's fairy tales, the known and the unknown converge and diverge uexpectedly, where a state of flux is the norm.
When I began this project I photographed just myself and my first daughter, but then I began to include my mother, my second daughter, my daughters' father, and references to extended family that, though unknown to most in our family, exert certain influence. In so doing, I am opening up the world of my photographs to a vaster and more cryptic environment. In a sense I am exploring my loss of control as my family expands and my older daughter, no longer a baby, growns out of her complete dependence on me.
These photographs were all made with a veiw camera and 4x5 film.