Photographer of the Week 9

Julie Blackmon 

Julie tells the story of a mother and children through the work of her lens. She gives us insight as to what it's like being a mother raising her children in the midwest- Missouri specifically! She shows the rowdiness, the stress, the chaos, and the lovely memories. I love her because she doesn't shy away from the hectic, crazy moments and is perfectly fine admitting to the world that she surely does not have it all together. The last part of Julie's artist statement sums it up well, "We live in a culture where we are both “child centered” and “self-obsessed.”  The struggle between living in the moment versus escaping to another reality is intense since these two opposites strive to dominate.  Caught in the swirl of soccer practices, play dates, work, and trying to find our way in our “make-over” culture, we must still create the space to find ourselves.  The expectations of family life have never been more at odds with each other.  These issues, as well as the relationship between the domestic landscape of the past and present, are issues I have explored in these photographs.  I believe there are moments that can be found throughout any given day that bring sanctuary.  It is in finding these moments amidst the stress of the everyday that my life as a mother parallels my work as an artist, and where the dynamics of family life throughout time seem remarkably unchanged.  As an artist and as a mother, I believe life’s most poignant moments come from the ability to fuse fantasy and reality:  to see the mythic amidst the chaos."
Sources: http://www.julieblackmon.com/text_page.cfm?pid=181