The images from Tierney Gearon's "A Mother Project is so shocking and powerful. There is just something so raw and powerful from each photograph. At first I did see how some of her images can be exploitative, however as the movie progressed I saw how beautifully striking individually these images were. All the photos that she took were disturbingly intimate and honest, it shows this ugly side of an individual.
The movie mostly focused on her relationship with her mother as well as her being a mother. Her mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia, making her difficult to work with. There were countless times in the movies where she would scream and yell at her daughter. The words that come out of her mouth was a bit difficult to grasp as a viewer. It was really shocking to hear say some of the things she said to her daughter. This allows me to understand her motivation to continue to shoot her mother and document what it was like growing up. It is clear that she had a very difficult childhood and being enveloped in photographs was the only escape.
Another aspect of the movie that disturbed me is the constant nudity of her children being photographs. Gearon was criticized of taking photos of children pornography. Although I understand where she is coming from, and that these are pictures of her children of what they normally do around her and she did not make them do it, it still just seem a bit weird to have the public view her children naked. This could have a huge influence on them emotionally and mentally growing up. I find that some of her images are slightly exploitative.
One aspect of the movie that I did like is her voicing her insecurities and process of becoming a mother. The movie shows how raw and powerful her emotions were at the time. She does concern herself of the things the public say about her, whether she is a good mother or not. I just love all the images in which her baby Waker interacts with his grandmother. What is normally a common image in society, she turned in and made it a bit hazardous.
Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. If I saw the images alone without watching the movie, my opinion of her as a photographer would have change. Now, I understand where she is coming from with each photographs that she takes. The movie helps the viewer see the innocence of it all, her images are not suppose to be exploitative and to show her life and childhood growing up.
