“Skin Deep” is a series of pigment prints that explores female aging through the metaphor of construction debris. I started photographing during the pandemic with Sunday shooting trips to residential construction sites near my home. As I looked at the discarded, scrapped, mangled, forgotten, and broken building materials strew on the ground, I began to see the forms and textures of the aging female body – sagging skin, thinning hair, drying membranes.
If aging had a color palette, I imagine it would be these pink to rust hues. The triptychs are symbolic of the three aspects of aging: biological, psychological and social. I’ve shared these images informally for the last four years with friends and colleagues. It’s spurred interesting conversations about the often conflicting thoughts and emotions of growing older in a culture that reveres youth: trying to focus on gratitude for a healthy body, coping with sadness at losing a youthful appearance; reckoning with the lack of physical control over the aging process, acknowledging the freedoms that come with aging.
While the phrase “skin deep” connotes superficiality, my goal for the work is to spur deeper understanding and acknowledgement. Perhaps even some humor. Through the series, I hope to release the inner voices and find beauty in this universal experience.