Barbara Peacock
Selections from American Bedroom and Hometown
In 2015 Barbara Peacock published her first book – Hometown–1982-2016 — A thirty year photographic project of the small New England town where she grew up. She also began her project, American Bedroom in 2015. For this she received the Getty Editorial Grant which enabled her to continue traveling the country to capture all walks of life in their most private and intimate of places – the bedroom. The exhibition we have mounted is a curated version from both of these portfolios.
American Bedroom 2017 - ongoing
In 2017 Barbara Peacock received the Getty Editorial grant for her work in an on- going portfolio project, American Bedroom: Reflections on the Nature of Life. Peacock is traveling the far reaches of the US to make these diverse and inclusive photographic portraits.
"American Bedroom is a cultural and anthropological study of Americans in their private dwelling; their bedroom. The nature of the project will be portraits of individuals, couples and families that reveal the depth of their character and spirit. My interest lies in the poetic resonance of ordinary subjects much in the convention of our forefather of the documentary tradition, Walker Evans. I follow his practice of photographing commonplace subjects, working class Americans, beneath notice and yet the very fabric of our nation. I am passionate, but not sentimental about America as evident in my book, Hometown 1982-2015. I am drawn, as Evans was, to the quiet magisterial beauty of people half lost in memory, with too much time on their hands or in silent paradox. I argue and persuade that these subjects matter." - Barbara Peacock
Barbara Peacock, Jessica age 18, Milford, NH, 2016, Ink jet print , 40 x 60 in.
“Sometimes life throws you in all sorts of directions. The most important part about life is to remember you are exactly where you need to be.”
HOMETOWN PORTFOLIO 1982-2015
In 1982 Barbara Peacock began what was to become a thirty year project about her community in Westford Massachusettes. Her photographic journey involved thirteen cameras, numerous formats and both color and black and white film. A monograph of her works, Hometown was published in 2016. In this exhibition we offer a curated version of that text.
