Hold Me Tight

I recently turned 40 which marks the start to middle age. The flood of emotions I felt as I approached this milestone overwhelmed me. I was scared at the thought of growing older, proud of the woman I’d become, and sad at the loss of the girl whose experience helped me to get here. My youthful days were fading and I didn’t want to see them go. In Hold Me Tight I’m exploring how to hold onto my youth as I grow older. By duplicating myself within the image, I imagine going on a journey with my former self. Embracing her, I try to hold onto the feeling of her. Both females in the images are me. I photographed myself multiple times and then stitched the images together to create an exchange between them. The scenes I create through this process conjure memories of my younger days. I am consciously giving myself a place to play and recall those youthful feelings. I chose to portray both versions of myself the same to express the idea that it is my present self revisiting a memory of how youth felt. Even when recalling a memory to recapture that ephemeral spirit of youth, I will always be my present self with all of my present thoughts, feelings, and years of experience.