Bainbridge, Megan. Familial, Familiar: Breaking Borders. Circadian Currents, 27 April 2023-9 May 2023, University of Hartford Joseloff Gallery, West Hartford, CT.
In contrast to my mother who had grown up in Uffenheim, Germany, I was raised in the United States. Looking back, I have realized that being the child of an immigrant entails an inherent disconnect from the foreign side of my family. While I have been able to visit my extended family members in Germany, these visits have been few and far between. I wanted to find a way to connect with my mother’s family through collecting and editing an archive of family photographs. From that, Familial, Familiar: Breaking Borders–a body of photographic work–was born. There are two components to this body of work.
The first is a timeline of ID photos from passports and driver’s licenses from my Oma, my mother, and I. The second is a collection of seven digitally collaged images enclosed in a photo album. Each image superimposes a family member from my mother’s side of my family into a family photo from another time.
The ID photo timeline is a collection of images that shows how women in my family have changed over time as they are repeatedly photographed for identification purposes. There are only three ID images of my Oma that I could find, so the majority of this collection is made up of scans from ID photos of my mother and I. I wanted to include both German and American identification in this collection to reference my identity as a German American.
The digitally collaged collection includes images ranging from my Uroma and I posing on her husband’s motorbike to my Ururoma’s and my mother’s joint Holy Communion photo. All the images used in these collages originate from analog film photos. Fittingly, these old family photos are displayed in a photo album. I want to create a whimsical narrative of time-traveling and impossible scale. Through photography, I can feel closer to my mother and her family that I’ll never know as well as she did.
Bainbridge, Megan. Ausweisfotos: Three Generations. 2023. Archival inkjet prints (digitally scanned),
258 in x 33 in (655.32 cm x 83.82 cm).
258 in x 33 in (655.32 cm x 83.82 cm).
Bainbridge, Megan. Seven Photo Album Selections. 2023. Archival inkjet prints (digitally collaged, enclosed in a photo album),
12 in x 12 in x 1 in (30.48 cm x 30.48 cm x 2.54).
12 in x 12 in x 1 in (30.48 cm x 30.48 cm x 2.54).