Daily Mail
Mother reinvents domestic bliss by placing herself at the forefront of dark and daring family photos
Susan Copich, from Columbia County, New York, spent years taking pictures of her family but realized she was missing from almost every photo
The mother-of-two wanted to create a unique set of pictures that would each showcase a different side of her complex personality
A mother-of-two has revolutionized the concept of the traditional family photograph with a series of controversial images entitled 'Domestic Bliss'.
After spending years as a 'helicopter mother' who hovered around her children taking a constant stream of photos - while never actually featuring in any family images herself - former dancer Susan Copich came up with the idea for the unique photography project, which she felt would allow her to turn the camera on herself for once and 'project some sort of emotional honesty'.
'I needed a creative outlet of my own - one in which I called the shots and controlled everything so no questions or insecurities remained unanswered,' the actress told MailOnline. 'I think it was a call to power on my part!
'I loved not having to make myself into someone’s else projection or image, I was able to be exactly as I wanted, for an ex-dancer and actor this was huge.'
Each of the images within the Domestic Bliss series has what Susan calls a 'twist of darkness', a daring element that challenges the normal perceptions of family happiness and forces viewers to look beyond the surface of the photo.
And more than that, they have given Susan the chance to put herself at the forefront of family life by altering the day-to-day dynamic of her roles as both a mother and a wife.
'I wanted to explore living vicariously through character since my life became about taking care of my daughters and husband and home and as much as I love them I needed to express more,' she said.
'I wanted to feel relevant again and create something honest and courageous. I didn’t want to fall through the cracks of domesticity.'
Although she describes her role in each image as a 'character', Susan admits that she drew on her own personal experiences and emotions in order to find inspiration for each one.
'I dwell in the dark thoughts and recesses of my mind to create character and subject, in order to project them into a frozen moment of time, allowing the story to continue to unfold bilaterally for the viewer,' Susan writes on her website.
'I feel a certain freedom to live vicariously through these characters to engage, seek to navigate (and, no less, avoid), both my own personal imperatives as woman, artist, mother, and wife, as well as those – personal, social and cultural – that are imposed on me by others.'
While many of the images draw on Susan's personal thoughts and feelings, a number also highlight current issues and problems within society. For example, 'Toy' features three young girls playing with a handgun, an image which Susan says is a comment on the ease with which young people are able to access weapons.
'This image is taken directly from the headlines of the newspapers; unsupervised children with access to guns; where are the parents?' she explained.
'The only one who looks concerned or worried is the youngest of the children; looking to her mother or adult figure for reaction or assurance, but clearly not receiving any. Asking who is the adult figure?'
Susan features her daughters - aged 12 and 8 - in many of the images, and told the Huffington Post that the girls have 'a back-pocket full of pride' thanks to their mother's work.
