The relationships we have with our parents and caregivers fluctuate, some families dealing with extreme events that forever change who they are as people. The aftermath of an intense divorce and the change in our family lifestyle altered my definition of what I called family. The relationships I have with my mother and father have gone through many different stages of rebuilding, and I had to accept my parents are people. With issues between my parents bubbling since I was born, there was no choice but to let that pot boil over and burn the view of my family and start a new life. The Heart Stays Still depicts the collaborative efforts with my parents in slowly transitioning to our new lives after the divorce, and tells the story of accepting new realities. With my mother moving into her own place and learning independence, and my father moving into a house with another family and forgiving himself, I am creating a new beginning for myself and with both my parents.

My parents were guided to input their ideas into these photographs, combining each of my parents’ artistic choices with mine and showing their individual lives. With my direction in lighting, the strobe signifies the alienation between me and my parents, and the contrast of the natural lighting creates this safe, familial feeling I have with them. The posing of me and my parents signifies the relationship I have with each of them and how it changes as the series progresses in time. While navigating and transitioning into a new life I was not ready for, I attempt to rebuild a relationship stronger with each parent. Family dynamics change whether we agree with it or not, and it is something we have to come and accept. No matter if it is unpleasant or positive, we are expected to move forward.

This collaborative experience between me and my parents slowly helped

me accept the reality of my family, and become hopeful for this new life. I

hope my audience can see themselves in this work, and find solace in their

family life.