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Gillian Laub

Family Matters

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Family Matters

  Grandpa helping Grandma out of the limo, Mamaroneck, New York, 1999

Family Matters zeroes in on Gillian’s family as a stand-in for the way Trump’s knack for sowing discord and division has impacted communities, individuals, and families across the country. As Laub explains, “When I first began photographing my family in my late 20s, I began to unpack my relationship to my relatives—which turned out to be much more indicative of my relationship to the outside world than I had ever thought; the key to exploring questions I had about the effects of wealth, vanity, childhood, aging, fragility, political conflict, religious traditions, and mortality so entrenched in my other work.” These issues became all the more tangible in 2016, when her Laub and her parents were revealed to be on opposing sides of the most divisive political campaign and subsequent presidency in recent U.S. history.

The images collected in Family Matters, spanning over twenty years, reveal Laub’s willingness to confront ideas of privilege and unity, and to expose the faultlines and vulnerabilities of herself and her relations. Ultimately, the work also celebrates the resiliency and power of family—including the family we choose—in the face of divisive rhetoric. Laub writes that she has become fascinated with the complex nature of tradition and blood relationships: “My work has always been an artist’s search for a deeper understanding of family and tribe in all its forms. There is a very thin line between the ties that bind and the ties that free, between the secrets and stories that haunt and those that provide comfort, and I have an enduring respect and fascination for those that choose to walk that line, struggling to become who they are without forgetting where and whom they came from.”

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Family Matters

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Grandpa in his vegetable garden, 1999
Grandma grabbing Grandpa's tush, 2000
Grandpa helping Grandma out, 1999
Grandma with Aunt Dorothy and Aunt Doris, 2002
Myra and Farrah, 2000
Chappaqua backyard, 2000
Jason and Farrah, 2006
Dad carving the turkey, 2004
My cousin Jaime with captive audience, 2003
Mom and Dad with the wedding planner, 2008
Carol giving me the finger, 2011
Grandma's kitchen, 2010
Grandma on her ninetieth birthday, 2010
Mom and Dad in their aprons, 2016
My Thanksgiving setting, 2016
Mom in her living room, 2016
Aunt Lee, 2016
My nephew's bedroom, 2016
Slater with the Trump mask, 2019
Shiloh and Izzi with my parents, 2019
Dad carving the turkeys, 2019
My quarantine birthday, 2020
Mom after yoga, 2020
Bonnie and Mom, 2020
Summer at Uncle Joey's, 2019
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Grandpa in his vegetable garden, 1999

Grandma grabbing Grandpa's tush, 2000

Grandpa helping Grandma out, 1999

Grandma with Aunt Dorothy and Aunt Doris, 2002

Myra and Farrah, 2000

Chappaqua backyard, 2000

Jason and Farrah, 2006

Dad carving the turkey, 2004

My cousin Jaime with captive audience, 2003

Mom and Dad with the wedding planner, 2008

Carol giving me the finger, 2011

Grandma's kitchen, 2010

Grandma on her ninetieth birthday, 2010

Mom and Dad in their aprons, 2016

My Thanksgiving setting, 2016

Mom in her living room, 2016

Aunt Lee, 2016

My nephew's bedroom, 2016

Slater with the Trump mask, 2019

Shiloh and Izzi with my parents, 2019

Dad carving the turkeys, 2019

My quarantine birthday, 2020

Mom after yoga, 2020

Bonnie and Mom, 2020

Summer at Uncle Joey's, 2019

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Family Matters

Grandpa in his vegetable garden, 1999
Grandma grabbing Grandpa's tush, 2000
Grandpa helping Grandma out, 1999
Grandma with Aunt Dorothy and Aunt Doris, 2002
Myra and Farrah, 2000
Chappaqua backyard, 2000
Jason and Farrah, 2006
Dad carving the turkey, 2004
My cousin Jaime with captive audience, 2003
Mom and Dad with the wedding planner, 2008
Carol giving me the finger, 2011
Grandma's kitchen, 2010
Grandma on her ninetieth birthday, 2010
Mom and Dad in their aprons, 2016
My Thanksgiving setting, 2016
Mom in her living room, 2016
Aunt Lee, 2016
My nephew's bedroom, 2016
Slater with the Trump mask, 2019
Shiloh and Izzi with my parents, 2019
Dad carving the turkeys, 2019
My quarantine birthday, 2020
Mom after yoga, 2020
Bonnie and Mom, 2020
Summer at Uncle Joey's, 2019
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