Hidden Mothers

Hidden Mothers references the early usages of photography when exposure times were long. Mothers who wanted a record of their children would hide themselves under a piece of fabric and hold their children for the duration of the exposure to ensure a sharp image. These historic images are often referred to as “hidden mother” photographs. I create formally similar images as a metaphor for the unrecognized physical and emotional work that mothers do to support and nurture their children. Mothers are wrapped in colorful floral bed linens to elicit traditional notions of femininity and domestic spaces. The wrapping of each mother hides the details of her identity and functions as an expression of her inner psyche. The tension between hiding and revealing evokes the complexities of motherhood and functions as a kind of erasure of self.