These images are photographed through sheets of ice. Freezing time, they reveal and distort scenes and narratives the way our memories do. We all crave coherent stories, with beginnings and endings, and compelling arcs that explain the journey. But the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves are never "the truth"— they are created out of bits of memory scattered across the brain and reassembled every time they are recollected. Like a game of telephone, they change with every repetition.
Out of the often hundreds of ice-bound frames of each scene, I select the most compelling and evocative single images and short narratives, though not to illustrate a preconceived story, Instead, I look for those that individually distill a telling moment, and together create a world that invites viewers to find or create their own stories.
Narratives about the 1950s abound. Those that falsely romanticize them as a time of happy housewives and backyard barbecues are fueling our contentious politics and growing societal unrest. Like the worn and broken dolls they feature, these images embody the dark history of that era and give warnings for our future.
