“Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.” David Pelzer / "A Child Called It" Today we had the privilege to have as our guest Kathy Curtis-Cahill who presented and discussed her most recent project "Memories and Demons"...a project using stage dolls portraying metaphorically aspects of child abuse and neglect.
But first a bit of background...Kathy spent 30 years as a set decorator before turning to photography. Her unique visual experience clearly was evident in her photography of the dolls in their "environment." She just completed a gallery show of this project at the "Artist Corner Gallery" in Los Angeles. Each doll picture she showed revolved around aspects of child abuse and neglect and carried with the visual image her narrative of the abuse largely drawn from both personal experience in her own life together with the influence of photographers e.g. Diane Arbus and Sally Mann. Clearly powerful, evocative images made even more powerful by her narrative involving her doll-characters and the societal reality of children at risk. Believe me, it's difficult in a short blog to relate the nuances of her images. Our f8 members engaged Kathy in questions that included the issue of generational progression of abuse, technical aspects of set up and shooting. As I said at the outset...this blog is too short to capture the experience of her pictures today or what they represented. Surely her work fit into our f8 mantra of focusing on the art and aesthetics of photography and today the bonus of its societal implications. Well done Kathy and thanks for coming to f8 Pasadena. Of course, Kathy received our distinguished f8 Pasadena cap for the honor of her presence. A few of her pictures are below...for those not present...the titles will help you decipher the specific area of abuse or neglect. Also, check out her website for more of her projects.
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