Home is where the heart is. This is a sentiment that nearly everyone shares and it only seems to intensify upon becoming a parent. Suddenly, your haven becomes a treasury of milestones and memories that mark the lives of those you love most. Photographer Suzanne Révy has been recording the physical and emotional growth of her two teenage sons since they were toddlers, producing interrelated bodies of work that culminate in her most recent and poignant series of photographs, I Could Not Prove the Years Had Feet, on view at the Griffin Museum satellite gallery at the Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, MA through January 14th, 2018.
I Could Not Prove the Years Had Feet is quoted from an Emily Dickenson poem, perfectly exemplifying Révy’s lyrical and reverent approach. Following the nuances of her sons’ development, from their changing bodies to their equally unstoppable preoccupation with technology, Révy adopts the mantle of sentinel, quietly watching each stage as her boys naïvely pass through . As they move further into their teen years and withdraw somewhat from family life, they become less available to photograph and Révy retreats to their “spaces and messes”, reflecting on impermanence in the places where family memories linger.
Révy’s refined compositions center on visual features that bring a moment into emotional focus. In a twig of kindling, the creases of a bedsheet, or fists thrust into pockets, light and line combine in an alluring, enigmatic balance. They reflect Révy’s conflicting feelings of joy and sorrow. Her colors are soft and inviting, with a muted palette redolent of skin tones and the comforts of home. And I think Révy has a special gift for portraying fleeting, expressive light. The way it glows, reflects or dances imbues Révy’s images with echoes of transience. I Could Not Prove the Years Had Feet is a quiet and powerful reverie about growing up.
For more information about this exhibit, go to: http://griffinmuseum.org/show/suzanne-revy-i-could-not-prove-the-years-had-feet/
The Griffin Museum of Photography has published a monograph in conjunction with this exhibit that includes photographs from all three interrelated series of Révy’s work. For information or to order, go to: http://griffinmuseum.org/product/time-let-play-venerate-simple-days-not-prove-years/
Feature Image: “Garage Door” (Detail) from the series I Could Not Prove the Years Had Feet by Suzanne Révy (courtesy or the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography).