Youth of Old Age

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silence between us…

cherry petals

in flight

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Artist Statement

The "Youth of Old Age" explores challenges and joys of aging through images created using experimental photographic techniques. Every image starts as a meditation that calls for a specific alternative process to create the print. Anthotypes, lumen prints, chlorophyll prints, cyanotypes, contact prints and acrylic lifts allow me to express different aspects of aging process. Each technique complements the concept of the image. Lumen prints manifest meditation-gained enlightenment, cyanotypes indicate slow development of ideas, contact transfers are best to express misplacement, banishing shows hard labor, chlorophyll prints complement natural changes that come with age, anthotypes communicate the evanescence of life and acrylic lift process allows the embrace of new possibilities.

Victor Hugo said that fifty is the youth of old age. As I turn 50, I am turning the lens of my camera on myself for the first time, forcing me to face internal and external questions about my identity and life purpose. Even before the age of fifty I experienced identity issues and age discrimination. It is devastating to be dismissed because of age, something you can’t control. I have talked to a lot of people and done research and know that this is a widespread phenomenon worldwide. This work speaks about the deeply felt pain and the joy and internal growth of aging. My project aims to show that age is just a number. I want to change the way society looks at those who are over fifty.

Recent exhibitions include "Serendipitous Eye" curated by Melanie Walker for The Light Box Gallery, "Lens Based Art" curated by ARTDOC Magazine and "Got the Shot, Now Get Creative" curated by Ellen Denuto for the New York Center for Photographic Art, “Photo But Not Photo” curated by Jennifer Marion and André Ramos-Woodard for the FLOAT Photo Magazine, Aeonian Magazine, Culture Lab LIC at the Plaxall Gallery and Westbeth Gallery.