Notes on Modern Love
As a confused but bright-eyed fifth grader, I was carefree and wild, mostly concerned with three things: attaching neon feathers to my hair, moving my body to the newest pop hits, and contemplating which ecosystem to unearth in my backyard. Then my mom told me she was in love with another woman. We had never spoken about her dating life or sexuality following the turbulent years with my father, but they were never married nor lived together, so separation was almost unnoticeable from the start. My mom told me, “I am in love with this person, and she just happens to be a woman.” I must have known the truth somewhere deep inside, because I remember that my cheerful knee-jerk response was, “I knew it.” As a 10-year-old, I didn’t feel the need to question her. I trusted my mom’s decision in choosing whom to love. To me, it didn’t matter, but to the world, it seemed to matter a whole lot. And since that day, my heart has yearned for a world where love is freely chosen and bestowed.
Lisa Sorgini, Motherhood
“Sorgini's infatuation with motherhood and home life began after her child, Ari was born. Documenting the emotional and intellectual transformation that motherhood prompted for her–the intricate dimensions of intimacy. Trancending Lisa to a heightened sensory experience of living off little to no sleep–ultimately led her to step out of her own life as a mother to begin photographing the lives of other family units. Her images display the most tender and fleeting moments of motherhood, rarely show specific identities. Tiny hands gripping at clothing and skin. A delicate assemblage of flesh set against the backdrop of quiet familiarity. Depicting the tension between the overwhelm and the mundanity of these early experiences of motherhood–love and affection, intensity and neediness, claustrophobia and inescapability.”
