NADINE BOUGHTON

My Parents' Patio

This project is a documentation of my parents in their Florida retirement home. What began as a series of photographs I made of them several mornings in 1979,
grew into a series spanning almost twenty years.

I was drawn to the sharp contrast of light and shadow, and the mix of natural and artificial worlds. Tropical plants explode alongside the faux world of pink stucco, sparkling fountains grace gated communities. This was my parents’ version of the American dream.

The project centered on the outdoor patio. I saw this space as a little stage set where I could be the "director.” I chose my parents’ clothing and set the scene, which they obligingly participated in.

My interest in this series is the movement of time; the movement of a day and the passage of years. As the patio flora grew my parents seemed to shrink, engulfed by deepening shadows. The theme of aging becomes apparent.