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Volume 3, No. 37 September 26, 2003 |
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By Hannah Pittard Using medium- and large-format cameras, M.F.A. candidate Lissette Schaeffler documented a family of Cuban immigrants living in Miami for her thesis project in photography. Over a two-year period, Schaeffler’s sister, parents, grandparents, nieces, nephews and aunts became the subject of her fall show, “New Beginnings,” on display at Oglethorpe Row Gallery, 406 E. Oglethorpe Ave., through Oct. 2. Schaeffler insists that the show is less about the cultural differences of an immigrant family and more about the matriarchal tendencies of her family. “I don’t think we’re that culturally different from other people,” said Schaeffler, who immigrated from Cuba to Germany and from Germany to Cuba in 1986. “There are little clues that let you know that we have differences. For example, the décor in [my grandparents’] house — all the religious insignia — is typical of Cuban households. On the other hand, the pictures of the children don’t look culturally different at all,” she said. “We are immigrants who have lived here for a while … Our cultural differences are sometimes obvious in some photographs, [but] the pictures are mostly about a matriarchal family. I concentrate mostly on the females but the men are not left out. Basically the show is about the effects of age and relationships and the new roles we acquire as we grow older.” Part of Schaeffler’s fascination with her mother, grandmothers, sister and aunts stems from what she said is their obviously powerful footing in the family. “They are the ones who keep this family together,” she said. “For example, my grandmother’s [five] children live within a 10-mile radius of her. Another thing is that my grandfather has been suffering from Parkinson’s for a while now, and she is the one who does everything for him. She doesn’t even like when the nurses come to help out. She is an extremely strong and determined woman.” Schaeffler first started photographing her family with respect to herself and how she fit into it. “Then I turned the camera onto them to see how they related to me (and my camera),” she said. “Finally I just photographed them interacting with each other.” In the end, Schaeffler said the photographs are a dialogue between the family and the photographer — though she does not appear in any of the pictures. “The photographs were mostly shot in a documentary style,” she said. “Some of them look like snapshots, others are calm.” “New Beginnings” is on display at Oglethorpe Row Gallery, 406 E. Oglethorpe Ave., through Oct. 2. A reception will be held Sept. 27. |
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