Erika Kapin: Mom and Me

Erika Kapin: Mom and Me by Aline SmithsonJanuary 19, 2024

©Erika Kapin, from Mom & Me

This week are featuring work seen at the Los Angeles Center of Photography Exposure Reviews.

Mourning has no timetable. Grief is not the same for everyone. And it does not always go away. The closest one can find to a consensus about it among today’s therapists is the conviction that the healthiest way to deal with trauma is to lean into it, rather than try to keep it at bay. The reflexive rush to normal is counterproductive. The willingness to face traumas — be they large, small, primitive or fresh — is the key to healing from them. They may never disappear in the way we think they should, but maybe they don’t need to. Trauma is an ineradicable aspect of life. We are human as a result of it, not in spite of it. – Mark Epstein

The passing of a parent is a profound loss at any age, but losing a parent at age 18, right as one begins to explore the world as an adult, is extremely difficult. Photographer Erika Kapin has created a series of double exposures and videos to find connections to a mother she never knew as an adult. The work was made when Erika was 42, the same age of her mother when she passed. The work is a poignant exploration of love, memory, and connection, as she searches for new ways to find solace and comfort.

Erika Kapin is a photographer whose work focuses on intimate moments. Her work celebrates the human experience by sharing stories of people, their relationships with the world and their relationships with each other. By sharing ourselves and seeing others in ways that are vulnerable, intimate and mundane, she believes we can recognize something of our own experience in others.

Born in Seattle, Washington, Erika moved to NYC in 2005 where she received her BFA from the New School for violin performance in 2010. Erika has studied and worked as a teaching assistant at International Center of Photography. Currently living in New York City, Erika continues to work on a variety of personal photo projects including Mom & Me, Past / Preset, The Open Photo Project, and Underwear On Our Heads. She also works as a freelance photographer in creative portraiture and documentary photography.

Follow Erika on Instagram @erikakapin

©Erika Kapin, from Mom & Me

©Erika Kapin, from Mom & Me

Mom & Me Personal Statement

My mom died when I was age 18. She was 42 which is the age I am now. I made this work, which I call Mom & Me as way to feel a sense of connection with her and also to address the grief that comes with not having a mother in my adult life. I was inspired by the work of Lebohang Kganye to use old family photos, and with a double exposure, place myself into the photo, so that I can share space with her.

In addition to the still images, an important part of this work is that using stop motion, I’ve created moving images where I have the opportunity to interact with my mom and have the sense of sharing a longer moment together. For each of these moving images, I composed and recorded a paired piece of music on my violin.