Watching the Grass Grow is a series of diptychs connecting my experience as a new mother to that of being an empty nester.  I attach time to a specific place by pairing old photographs of my children playing on our property with more recent photographs I have taken from the same environment.  

 

More than Twenty-five years ago, I moved with my husband and two babies from New York City to Chappaqua, NY. The uncertainties of being a new mother were compounded by my anxieties about suburban living. However, as I watched my growing daughters explore their expansive yard, I came to appreciate the very environment I had originally feared. As young adults, the girls moved from their childhood home to the city, leaving memories scattered throughout the yard.

 

In this series of diptychs, I photographed the landscapes in black and white to suggest timelessness; the pictures of my children were shot on film long before the birth of this project. Part of my process has been to cull through thousands of old snapshots, looking for pictures that reflect my layered emotions of motherhood.

 

In working on this project, I am struck by how deeply the memories formed from the constant drip of extraordinary love onto ordinary days.

Randy's Bio:

Randy Matusow, a New York-based photographer, focuses her eye on human interactions. From her street photography to her recent diptychs of landscapes paired with family photos, Randy unwraps the complexities of relationships.

Matusow is widely exhibited. Her photographs are in the permanent collection at The Brooklyn Museum, and numerous private collections.

She was a Fulbright finalist and is the recipient of the Women’s Research and Development Fund Grant from The City University of New York.

Her photographs have been published in Aperture Magazine, The Family of Women, and Amherst Review.

Matusow, an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Photography at the City College of New York for over twenty years, holds an MFA from Brooklyn College and a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design.