Mom
“The perfect squares of grass trapped in the concrete sidewalks, no blades left out of place. Pale yellow and faded coral. Tropical getaway, spring break, retirement. A refined place for gated communities, country clubs, and Sunday brunch buffets. Sports cars with moms in better shape than their daughters driving around with bagels that have the inside scooped out. The Sunshine State. Boca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida. It is the largest city between West Palm Beach and Pompano Beach. According to Wikipedia, Boca Raton is known for its affluent social community and high income demographic.
© Molly Matalon from the series “Mom”
© Molly Matalon from the series “Mom”
I am interested in how a persons home influences their lifestyle and identity. I have been photographing my mother and the South Florida landscape to draw a connection between the two. I’m interested in idealization and artifice. There is a disconnect between how South Florida appears and what is actually present.
© Molly Matalon, from the series “Mom”
© Molly Matalon, from the series “Mom”
The person my mom is for the camera is the person she is to me, and the person she is to the world. The act of making pictures of my mom makes her feel like she has a permanence in my life that has never existed. We need each other, but at this point in my life it is for different reasons. I am also interested in photography. I am using the camera as a tool to form a relationship about looking. The distance that arises from this has transformed our relationship into something from nothing. Photography is very special in that way. The way it can hold onto what you saw in front of you and simultaneously the thing in front of you, is no longer the thing at all.
© Molly Matalon, from the series “Mom”
© Molly Matalon, from the series “Mom”
© Molly Matalon, from the series “Mom”
Beauty as a profession has been living within the skin of the women in my family for generations. It seems natural that I am drawn to ideas of vanity, beauty, femininity, and how to create an accurate image of self. While considering the roles of daughter and mother, I am dealing with the unsaid competition that lives between my mother and I.
© Molly Matalon, from the series “Mom”
Historically, women are the ones being looked at by men. For me it is important to note that I am a woman looking at another woman and being critical of womanhood. Ultimately, this is a relationship between two women.”
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Molly Matalon
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