then he forgot my name

a self-portrait photography series, examining decay and mortality while reflecting the collective awakening of female power set in American Rust Belt darling, Youngstown, Ohio. 

From 2016 to 2019 I shuttle between my hometown in Ohio, and my life in upstate New York to spend more time with my father during his battle with dementia. Utilizing a rundown family owned building in downtown Youngstown as a backdrop, I set out researching the structure’s history (thank you Mahoning Valley Historical Society) and re-imagining past occupants. 

By employing a willing suspension of disbelief and declaring each occupant (character) female I set the stage for stories of womanhood, replete with trials, wounds, strengths, tolerances and impossible tasks; drawing upon revelations of what seems an endless narrative of: neglected boundaries, inequalities, injustices, violence and the fallout that ensues. The lens focuses on female protagonists at times vulnerable and at others invincible: A woman in a red ball gown pushed down the stairs, a nude odalisque seduces the viewer, a well-dressed siren coolly smokes a cigarette in an abandoned car. All illuminating a psychological landscape through the pain of living, the continuum of decay and the struggle for change.