by photographer Adriana Lestido
1998 FiftyCrows PhotoFund Winner

The project focuses on photographs of omen in relation to their mothers, present or absent, during different stages of their life. I consider the link between mother and daughter to be the most complex and intense of human relations. Every daughter carries her mother in her blood, the essence of the nature of one is in the other and there are no two other beings who relish more the possibilities of mutual support and identification. However, it is also true that there is no other human relationship with such limitations. Through my work I attempt to understand something of its mystery.

This essay, on which I have been working hard for the last three years, will be the culmination of many years of graphic research on women and maternity. The work is based on four stories of mothers and daughters. I am portraying their link intensively and continuously through the mundane, paying special attention to the various events in their lives. For this purpose I spend long days with them, record their chats, sometimes I stay the night and go on trips with them. I aim to reach the heart of each relationship and so maybe understand my own story.