Erik KvarnbergLauren Richman lines up ‘disconcerting’ images of ‘Hidden Mothers’ from 19th century photographers.
Curator Lauren Richman has clad the walls of the Norton Museum of Art with anonymous photographs, many as old as photography.
The photographs that fill the walls are eerie, with children in front of figures that are either hooded or poorly hidden in the background.
These figures are the mothers and caretakers of the children, whose only reason for entering the frame is to keep the children still.
Sometimes their hands are the only things visible but the steps photographers take to dilute them are at times disconcerting, Richman said.
“The ones that kind of make me uncomfortable are where the studio photographer has scratched away the face of the adult sitter,” she said.
“That physical violence to the photograph is really disconcerting.”
Such removals span methods and years. The exhibit makes it clear that every generation does it differently. Even Richman, however, can’t point to a single reason why photographers do it.
The person behind it all
Richman grew up around photography. Her father participated in the medium as a hobbyist. She said it fostered her respect for the discipline.
Her respect only grew when she attended Vanderbilt and Southern Methodist universities in the 2000s, where she said she immersed herself in art history courses.
Studying the history of photography opened up the world of photo curation to her, and working in a dark room let her experience making photos instead of just taking them, further spurring her interest.
She joined the Norton in 2023, after spending time as the assistant curator of photography at the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University in Bloomington.
She organized “Direct Contact: Cameraless Photography Now” (2023), the first contemporary survey exhibition of international and intergenerational artists producing cameraless photography, where artists manipulate light and chemicals to create an impression on photo-sensitive paper.
Through her studies, she said photography remained personal to her as a way to remember and know people across time.
A piece of history
The Norton exhibit, “Veiled Presence: The Hidden Mothers and Sara VanDerBeek,” uncovers a phenomenon not often included in the history of photography.
The haunting presence of mothers and caretakers in the photographs conjures metaphors for death, often resembling ghost photography with a faceless hooded figure ominously standing behind a child.
To enhance the viewers’ experience, Richman often incorporates equipment needed to create photos into her exhibits, a fundamental point of her style.
In this exhibit, she brought in antique studio equipment. Visitors will see — but not touch — brutally uncomfortable chairs, used by photographers to force children to sit still for the now-antiquated, extended exposure times of the 19th century.
She did the same thing with “Blur/Obscure/Distort,” an exhibit that closed Aug. 24. In the sculpture “Reliquary,” artist Christian Boltanski embedded photos in a shrine of tin boxes for viewers to ruminate on memory, death and the way people worship.
Contemporary contributions
To complement the “Hidden Mothers” collection, which is on display until Nov. 30, Richman has invited Austin, Texas, artist Sara VanDerBeek to study the photographs and make photos and sculptures exclusively for the Norton.
Some of these pieces explore photographic tradition, using subjects from the Victorian era to make contemporary art. The images VanDerBeek has rephotographed come from work by Julia Margaret Cameron, one of few women photographers at the time. She photographed her own family and her parlor maid, an unusual approach in the Victorian era of photos of celebrities and Christian mythology.
In VanDerBeek’s pieces, photography is the mediator between past and present, captured in still moments.
The Norton is offering an adult photography workshop led by VanDerBeek on Oct. 16, and an artist talk with VanDerBeek and Richman on Oct 17. Participants must RSVP on the Norton website.
What’s next for Richman?
While she is still planning shows from the museum’s archives, Richman wants to invite more artists to make pieces exclusively for the Norton. She also wants to bring in more exhibits on loan that show people rare and exciting parts of photographic culture.
She has two upcoming exhibits, focusing on both the documentary and conceptual sides of the medium.
“I want to keep people feeling surprised at what they’re finding in the galleries here,” Richman said. “And I wanted to do super conceptual work, more historic work, cameraless work, works from our show and works from our collection. I think there’s room for all of that here.”
Her cutting-edge credentials appealed to the Norton.
“She brings to the Norton an expansive knowledge of the medium and a curatorial commitment to showcasing diverse artists and promoting progressive collecting practices,” the Norton said in announcing her hire.
Upcoming photo exhibitions
Richman worked with conceptual artist Leslie Hewitt on an exhibition that works among photography, photo collage and sculpture. Hewitt created layered prints about different experiences, from personal stories to broad histories of time periods.
Hewitt’s exhibit, titled “Achromatic Scales” is available until Feb. 22.
The Norton also will have a show of photographs by artist Anastasia Samoylova titled “Atlantic Coast.” Her work was presented at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in January 2025.
Samoylova has undertaken a historic road trip along U.S. Route 1 in the footsteps of American photographer Berenice Abbott, whose work in the early 20th century documented New York City. In this exhibit, Samoylova’s photographs are more observational documentary, trying to understand the gap between American mythmaking and reality, all while putting the world of South Florida into a new context for locals.
Samoylova’s exhibit is scheduled to open Nov 15.
The Norton is open daily, except Tuesday, from 10 am to 5 pm. General tickets are $18, with discounts for seniors and students. Members, children under 12, active military, veterans and Florida teachers receive free admission. West Palm Beach residents can enter for free on Saturdays.
If you go by Oct. 6, you can see “Artist’s Jewelry: From Cubism to Pop, the Diane Venet Collection,” which Stet covered here.
