Shelley Ashford – Conversations with my mother

Description

Finalist for the 2016 New Zealand Photobook of the Year Awards

Conversations with my mother is part of an installation for the graduation exhibition of the artist, Unnatural mother. The mother (of the artist) was judged  by her peers for committing the ultimate crime of motherhood – leaving her husband and children to pursue her own life and search for happiness. This did not fit in with the social constructs of that time or the world in which she was raised.

The book weaves in photographs from family albums with text and new images, to explore themes of societal norms and investigate how the family album can perpetuate familial myths. Other themes include gender roles, feminism, zeitgeist and how much mass media marketing influences our perception of the world.