Over a period of five years Elaine O’Neil and her daughter Julia Hess met each day in the living room to pose for a portrait. The images that resulted from their project — over 1,500 exposures in all — document Julia’s transition from a child of ten under her mother’s protective arm to an independent young woman. They also uncover the complexity of feelings shared by parents and children, laying bare the emotions — affection, anger, frustration, indifference, exasperation, amusement — Julia and her mother felt as they paused for a brief moment while waiting for the shutter to click.
Close to Home: Photographers and their Families, 2011
Close to Home: Photographers and their Families, 2011
- Title
-
August 17, 1996, from the series Mother Daughter Posing as Ourselves
- Artist
- Date
- 1996, printed 2005
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- image: 15 1⁄4 x 18 1⁄2 in. (38.8 x 47.0 cm) sheet: 15 7⁄8 x 19 3⁄4 in. (40.3 x 50.2 cm)
- Copyright
-
© 2009, Elaine O'Neil
- Credit Line
-
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
- Mediums Description
- gelatin silver print
- Classifications
- Keywords
-
- Figure group – female and child
- Portrait female – Hess, Julia
- Occupation – art – photographer
- Object Number
-
2010.47.8
- Palette
- Linked Open Data
- Linked Open Data URI
