"In Her Place records where, at the end of the 20th Century, 56 American women have found a place of nurture for themselves. In Her Place shares , in text and photographs, their personal sanctuaries.

"From the beinning of this photo essay in 1995, it was to be of adult women and to reflect the multicultural environment of metropolitan Washington, D.C. My first thought was to contact well known women. I quickly realized that the interactions of my own life provided the richness of age and diversity I was seeking. The unanticipated benefit for me was that it provided a context for conversations and shared experiences with many women I already knew: neighbors, friends, teachers, relatives and business people. Since I already had friendly exchanges with most of the women, it was easy to talk with them about being a part of In Her Place. For example, Ruth, a U.S. postal clerk, Kyung, owner of Lee's Laundry, Zahra, an exercise instructor at the local health club, and Elia, a beautician, are four of the 56 women in the book. Two of the women, Dorothy and Miyuki, I knew by listening to their programs on the radio while working in the darkroom.

"The women in In Her Place mirror American society with its range of ages, multicultural diversity and professions. The range of ages is from 20's into 90's. The women are single, married, divorced, widowed. The women are Mom at home, Mom with a job outside the home, with small children, with teenagers, with adult children, with grandchildren, or with no children. Their diverse cultural backgrounds are sometimes evident in the wonderful names that accompany the photographs. Their occupations include computer programmer, housekeeper, student, manager of a human resources department, business owner (laundry, bookstore, restaurant), teacher, office manager, research psychologist, beautician, photographer, exercise instrutor, receptionist, magazine editor, U.S. postal clerk, singer, writer, education research analyst, poet, audio engineer, pharmacist, radio technician, radio commentator and National Park Service ranger. Each woman's description about her choice of place is in her own words. The text was to be completed before the photography session. The beauty of these texts was another unanticipated reward. At each stage of life we have different ways of nourishing ourselves. A place today will be different tomorrow."

 

home | book | exhibition | publisher | artist