Little Romances - Hardcover

by Jordanna Kalman (Photographer), Jennifer Murray (Contribution by)

When considered as an object the photograph exists physically in the world, it belongs to someone; it gets held, it has weight, value. I've been interested in this concept for some time. It was this interest plus the recurrent use of my images online without my permission that motivated the creation of the series Little Romances. I have always made very personal work, my current emotional state and interests get translated directly into my images. Most all these images reflect questions and anxieties about being a woman, navigating what that means; what is expected of me as a mother, daughter, wife or lover versus what I'm capable of. In sharing my work online, sometimes it is treated with respect, but more often not. Not being asked for its use, and/or not being credited; it's upsetting being treated that way especially with such personal images. In Little Romances I photograph prints of my photographs and they become a physical object; my object. I surround them with elements from my garden or other personal items not to evoke nostalgia or sentimentality but to deepen my physical connection/claim to these images and distance them from the viewer. The object-image becomes obscured, repurposed, diverted, so that its original intent remains safe from viewing and at the same time it explores a new narrative.