EXHIBITION: Memory Orchards
MEMORY ORCHARDS
Photographers and their Families
Friday, January 19 – Saturday, March 2, 2024
OPENING RECEPTION | Friday, January 19, from 5-8 pm
BOOK RELEASE EVENT | Thursday, February 1, from 6-10pm
Nadiya Nacorda, Thandi in the Pool, 2019.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Even those photographers who travel the world chasing commercial careers, or editorial greatness, will inevitably photograph their own lives to a significant extent. And often these personal documents are the most important images a photographer will make in a lifetime. Childbirth, loved ones, siblings, birthdays, weddings, dinner, laughter, backyards, last photos, illness, dysfunction, difficult memories… Our intention is to record the incredible breadth of family experience, through highs and lows, through lust and loss, creating a survey of work that reflects this moment.
We find it easy to relate to family photographs, even when those depicted are strangers. In part, because photography suggests the truth of a situation, we are lured into believing we are learning about the subjects, and, possibly, something about the photographers as well. But photos of family also vibrate at a universal frequency. We see vulnerable children or affectionate partners, and we can see ourselves and our loved ones there. It is the same for those images of aging relatives. Because those aging relatives are also our relatives, or even, ourselves.
Memory Orchards presents a broad survey of family experience, through highs and lows, through lust and loss, creating a survey of work which reflects our understanding of ‘family’ in this moment. The work is derived from long term documentary projects, from archive based explorations, from mundane interactions to moments of intimacy, from family snapshots to artful portraits. While the motivations of any given photographer are always distinctly individual, there are some foundational ideas which persist and are shared widely. Some artists write of their desire to remember, to document their own peculiar and beautiful realities. Others write of their desire to share their experience in hopes of adding to larger conversations about representation or identity. Taken as a whole, this engaging collection of work is complex and personal but deeply relatable.
Niki Boon, The Swimming Hole, 2016.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
The Exhibition features original works from 25 artists included in the accompanying book.
Safi Alia Shabaik
Hannah Altman
Niki Boon
Tommy Bruce
Daniel Coburn
Jess Dugan
Amy Friend
Elijah Gowin
Jessica Todd Harper
Kate Izor
Rachel Jump
Priya Kambli
Takako Kido
Gillian Laub
Linda Moses
Nadiya Nacorda
Lydia Panas
Toni Pepe
Emily Schiffer
Jennifer Shaw
Sarah Stellino
Rashad Taylor
Anne Vetter
Susan Worsham
Megan Wynne