from the Florida gardens

This larger, overarching series consists of 11 black and white photographs. It details my childhood, growing up in the rural, North Florida area. The work displays memories of running to my grandma’s house with my sister in the Spring where we would explore her backyard full of my great grandma’s flowers or help with my grandparents’ vegetable garden. In my lifespan, this period of my life is small in comparison to the years to come, but it’s one I want to preserve. This version of Florida is one I am most familiar with: Sunny afternoons, flowers in bloom, and sisterhood. From the Florida Gardens is an exploration of these memories, and an exploration of family connection as I seek to understand my great-grandmother Grace through the flowers and plants she cultivated long ago. Featuring portraits of my grandmother, grandfather, and Sister, as well as my two cousins representing my sister and me in the past. Through all these memories, I look to the future and how they influenced me to be who I am today. Symbols of growth are present throughout the photos, with monarch butterflies’ symbols of change and planting and harvesting from both my grandparents’ hands. The body of work plays a lot of repetition and contrast and was arranged to represent two sides: The past, and the present.