The 100 Day Project #11
After Betsy
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, New York, USA, 2015
The 100 Day Project, Day 11
I have complicated feelings about this photograph — and about the original artwork that inspired it.
Christina's World, painted by Andrew Wyeth in 1948, depicts his neighbor Christina, who was paralyzed, possibly by polio. Widely considered a tribute to her resilience and determination to move through spaces without a wheelchair or assistive device, the painting is a study in restraint — muted tones, vast open space, a small lone figure in the foreground, the implied safety of the farmhouse in the distance. You can view the original artwork here.
There is something both stirring and uncomfortable in the way a disabled woman's body becomes the subject of another person's narrative about determination. I have a lot of questions for this painting.
In my photograph I have placed Christina in motion and filled the frame with her figure, wishing to view the scene through her eyes and feel the tension between her determination and her exhaustion as she wills her body through the field. I compressed the distance between her and the barn, saturating the image with pinks and reds — colors culturally assigned to women and girls, and also the colors of passion, love, and anger.
You will also note that her head has become an ethereal outline against the sky. I use this exposure technique to convey the ways in which her physical body may have limited her activities, yet her dreams for herself — I hope — were as open as the sky above.
A note on my process: all of my photographs are made using long shutter speeds, with my camera held in my hands. I selectively move and hold the camera in a variety of directions, constantly adjusting exposure values to achieve what I'm after — no Photoshop, no AI. Just light, motion, time, and my vision.
This image is part of my project Co-Authored — a collection of abstract photographs born from my discomfort with artistic appropriation. I embarked on pilgrimages to photograph artworks in some of the most inspiring museums around the world, resulting in a collection that is playful and mysterious, yet sophisticated and elegant. Because museums are largely filled with art made by men, I titled each artwork after the partner or spouse of the artist whose work I photographed — my way of giving voice to the unrecognized support systems that have made so many male artists' careers possible.
About the photo: After Betsy
Betsy Wyeth is credited as the architect behind the mystic and success of American painter Andrew Wyeth. She was an author and art collector who also served as an archivist of Wyeth’s cannon.
Artwork: Christina’s World (1948)
Artist: Andrew Wyeth
Location: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, New York, USA
About the 100 Day Project: A global creative challenge where thousands of artists share a piece of their practice every single day for 100 days. I'm joining creatives around the world, and I'm excited to bring you along. Each day I'll be sharing one of my photos — some recent, some old, and some from my current project — along with the story behind it: where I was, who I was with, and why I love it.