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First Day of Spring, New Hampshire

Object Details

Exhibition Label
The act of making photographs opened a new kind of dialogue between Virginia Beahan and her mother, who suffered from dementia and could no longer care for herself:
My mother responded to being photographed—she liked the attention. A natural flirt, that side of her nature came out in the pictures—like a teenager preening for a date. There was something about the self she became in front of the camera that revealed more than a failing old woman, and the act of photographing became a special transaction between us. I felt an unexpected appreciation for the intimacy of the exchange. We had made a kind of peace.
Close to Home: Photographers and their Families, 2011
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Artist
Virginia Beahan, born Philadelphia, PA 1946
Date
2005
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Haluk and Elisa Soykan
Copyright
© Virginia Beahan
Medium
chromogenic print
Dimensions
18 1/2 x 23 3/8 in. (46.8 x 59.4 cm)
Type
Photography-Photoprint

Featured In

  • Explore America: New Hampshire
  • Signs of Spring
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