The Notion of Family
Artist
LaToya Ruby Frazier
(American, born 1982)
Date2009
Mediumgelatin silver prints mounted on archival mat board
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineChapin Riley Fund at the Greater Worcester Community Foundation
Object number2013.10-2013.24
Label TextFrazier's series The Notion of Family documents the emotional and physical toll of economic decline on African Americans using her home life in Braddock, Pennsylvania as its backdrop. Rather than viewing systemic racism from afar, Frazier presents the realities of economic struggle from the perspective of an adolescent insider.
The photographs in The Notion of Family range from interiors representing substandard living to vulnerable self-portraits conveying both inner strength and anxiety. A prevailing theme throughout the series is Frazier’s turbulent relationship with her mother. For example, Momme emphasizes the fierce independence of both women, while simultaneously reinforcing their unbreakable bond conveyed visually through the alignment of their shared lips.
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