"Portraits of My Mother is a journal of my life, my mother and most importantly, my relationship with her. My mother being a housewife for the past 29 years has probably done the same amount of labor for the family since always. The lockdown, the pandemic, and the time spent at home is what made me notice and ponder upon her as anything other than “maa”, other than the part of her identity attached to mine. I saw changes— her white hair, her anxious behavior, and was troubled by how much I had missed while I wasn’t really looking inside my own domestic space. There were regrets which raised questions— why would she choose this life, or did someone else choose this life for her claiming care? I had a million questions running in my head and I didn’t even know where to begin or how to talk to her about them.
The domestic sphere is riddled with shadows under which these women spend almost all of their lives, their work often going unnoticed, and everything they do taken for granted. I imagined being in the same position at my workplace, and I was stunned at how difficult and disturbing it seemed even within the realm of imagination. Through these photographs, I am trying to show my own contradictions, doubts, new understandings about my mother as first and foremost, a person; something a lot of us forget to consider about the women in our lives. I am trying to constantly question myself by simply documenting my mother’s life in its pieces; hoping that when I put it all together, the sum will appear larger than its parts."
-Anuj Arora
This photo series is part of a new series of books by The Curator Mag titled Average Photographs, which is a collection of several thematic photo essays. The book aims at inspiring people to keep creating, without worrying about what might 'fit' in the general aesthetic sense and what might not.
It features works from several photographers like Anuj Arora, Karan Kapoor, Noga Shtainer, Harsha Vemuri and others, making it a very collaborative project. All the independent photographers will be compensated equally through the sales of the book.
Get the book here.