PORTRAITS FROM HOME

PORTRAITS FROM HOME

BY SARAH MALAKOFF

Sarah Malakoff (Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1972). Her work has been widely exhibited in both solo and group shows nationally and are included in several public and private collections. She has been awarded Fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council in 2001 and 2011 and a Traveling Fellowship from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2011. She is Assistant Professor of Photography at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Synopsis

For as long as I can remember, I have had a preoccupation with domestic interiors.  As a child, I constantly rearranged the furniture, rugs, and even functions of the rooms in my house.  My long-term photographic project looks at the ways we arrange our most intimate spaces.  Our tastes, personalities, quirks and culture are expressed through our décor choices – sometimes intentionally, but often without realizing bits of our most authentic selves have seeped to the surface.  

In this body of work, I look closely at the portraits we display within the home. These diverse but venerated paintings and photographs of family, ancestors, historical figures, pets, and even celebrities seem to point to a longing for connection to community both past and present.  They resonate, often humorously or uncannily, with the other objects and architecture that surround them.  This collection of private spaces asks the viewer to imagine the people who inhabit them and their relationship to the portraits’ subjects.

These are digital C prints at 20" x 24" made from scans of 4x5 film.

Editor´s note

The presented project was selected from a spontaneous submission made by Sarah Malakoff. Our aim is to disseminate and bring to light telling work of emergent or young photographers.