Thomaston

During a photography workshop in Rockport, Maine, I began a project of photographing a family that lived nearby in Thomaston, Maine. The family consisted of a young eleven-year-old-girl (at the time), Alicia, her younger brothers Brian and Aubrey, her mother, and grandmother. This has been an ongoing body of work since meeting them in the summer of 2005. In these photographs of them, I have attempted to capture the various emotions and intense feelings of love, tension, uncertainty, and joy found among a family that has struggled with various hardships. The images depict the deep bond that exists between Alicia and her brothers and the feeling of protectiveness she feels toward them. In the portraits of Alicia, the images show her vulnerability, her melancholy and awakening to self–identity. The pictures of the other family members show their love and loyalty for one another. My photographic work is often centered on families and family relationships. In these photographs, the concentration is on the strong connections, deep emotions, and ambiguity that can exist within these relationships. In the images I hope to reveal the aspects of how people strive to maintain independence while also nurturing the need for to be dependent on others to sustain family bonds.