2016 - ON GOING
WORK IN PROGRESS
When it comes to maternity, the image I fix of my sons, engraves their being only from one point of view: mine. Thinking of myself as a daughter, it is difficult not to have someone’s identity shaped by their mother’s eyes. This is the reason why I decided to start recording my sons when they are consciously hiding from my sight. I wanted to document the moments they are away and looking for their own definition of selves. This project focuses on gazes interplay between mother and child. The pictures are taken while my children hide from me or anyone else, as in the game of Peekaboo. As a mother photographer, I wonder what power I hold on them while taking their portraits. If taking a picture of someone means in a way to fix their identity, to define them, to freeze the interpretation I have of them in time, I wonder how powerful this action is when the relation is already disbalanced like mothers and children. So I decided to record, document the moments when they actively take a break from my gaze, when they elude control, and are free to express themselves, in search for their identities. There are so many possibilities not seen behind that curtain. Hidden Albums would like to be a suspension of power, judgment, definition. As in the more explicit game of peekaboo, I like the suspension of connection between parts and the expectation from both to be recognized/confirmed in the roles. The project is built as a documentary: it is made mostly with self phone, to let children act spontaneously. It is a collection of real moments when they are hiding from me or during playing. I find the creativity they have in hiding so cheerful, I don’t want to intrude by stag- ing them. That is why pictures are poor quality. Since my second child is not one year old yet, the project is still ongoing.
