Harley Kilburn

Katja Blomberg described the ageing female body as, ‘the unlit side of conventional forms of representation.’[1]

Beyond a certain age, the female body disappears. Age is a taboo, a subject off-limits to debate and, especially, to visual representation.

Using my mother raises questions related to the acceptability of public display of an older female body. I want to photograph the ‘unrepresentable’. I want to challenge received ideas of female beauty by inviting an erotic gaze at a subject (my mother) whose erotic potential in society is always excluded or hidden, always a taboo.

Chris Townsend has argued that, ‘We do have a crisis in looking at ourselves as we truly are.’[2]

I am interested in the dividing line between the relationship of mother and daughter, artist and subject and the blurring of these boundaries. The relationship between mother and daughter is endlessly fascinating and multi-faceted. As Val Williams suggests, ‘Motherhood is a condition in which we invest emotions of many different orders. It is a space for reflection and for riot, for peace and labour, a central pillar of the family, yet always an enigma.’[3]

Over sentimentalising my mother’s body, imbuing the images with sadness, nostalgia or too much tenderness, would be patronising. She would hate that and so would I. When attributed to the older body, these words cry out ‘past it’, ‘vulnerable’, ‘frail.’ Just because a body is older does not mean that we should tread too carefully and deferentially around it.

I want to continue looking unabashedly at the ageing female body, in particular, my mother’s, and in doing so, I hope that the viewer of my work can do so as well. The work is never disrespectful, nor is there intent ever to flatter – it is just brutally honest.

[2] Chris Townsend ‘Ageing: Disgracefully’ in ‘Vile Bodies: Photography and the Crisis of Looking’ (Prestel, Munich 1998) p. 104

[3] Val Williams ‘Madonnae Ambiguae’ in ‘Who’s Looking at the Family?’ (Barbican Art Gallery Catalogue 1994) p. 50