Artists are constantly looking for new ideas and platforms to showcase their work and a new form of exhibition is now online: the Eye Mama Project has used Instagram to post motherhood photographs since 2020.
With a whopping 23.6k followers their following is constantly growing and changing how we might see motherhood and reflects everyone’s unique experience. Their posts range from videos of mothers expressively dancing to creative portraits of pregnancies. Each post is unique and it is interesting to see how each photographer has a different take on the motherhood narrative. The photographers always tag their images with a link to their own personal account, so Instagram users are encouraged to follow them as well as the project, giving the photographer their own voice in a wider context.
This online exhibition really stands out for me because of the new form a gallery can take: online, it is open 24/7 for the public to admire and photographers are constantly posting and updating their feed. Social media is a huge part of today’s society and it’s important for photographers to keep up to date on trends. It also impacted on me due to the influence the photographs have on the viewer and how different these images are in comparison to the “picture perfect” mother we often see in advertising. These mothers are real, independent, and strong showcasing their natural mother persona and bodies.
One particular post stood out for me by Luca Marko which was posted on the 19th February 2024 of female feet (we can assume a mother’s) standing on Lego almost like a pair of high heels and surrounded by other Lego parts. The photograph, set in a home, uses Lego for the mother to stand on as Lego is very painful to the feet and the viewer is able to feel the mother’s pain- we all know how painful standing on Lego is, don’t we! This cleverly represents the pains that motherhood can bring and the struggles of keeping the house tidy while entertaining children. How Marko positioned the Lego to look like high heels is creative, funny and unique inferring perhaps how the mother has given up her past glamorous life wearing fancy shoes in exchange for painful, chaotic motherhood.
Another Photograph that stood out for me was by Claire DaDam. Posted on 5th September 2023, her own elderly mother is posed smoking with an eye patch and flower crown. Now I don’t know about you, but I have so many questions for this mother: Do you always wear an eye patch and why? have you smoked all your life? what was your job? and what was motherhood like for you? The photograph sparks questions and I love how this mother appears independent and careless but also her eye patch suggests pain and that her life hasn’t always been smooth running.
The Eye Mama Project is an incredible platform for photographers to exhibit their work and I believe it to be the future of photography exhibitions. I’ll tag their Instagram below and make sure to give them a follow and support their work. I will also include a link to their shop!