/09 Adolescence

Martine Fougeron

Tête-à-Tête: Intimate Portraits of Two Adolescent Sons

Tête-à-Tête is a series of intimate portraits of my two adolescent sons and their friends at home in New York City and in the South of France, begun in the fall of 2005. This work explores adolescence as a liminal state, between childhood and adulthood, and between the feminine and the masculine.

Tête-à-Tête is an on-going series naturally staged, which reflects the face-to-face of the mother-photographer and the private world of two adolescent sons. It spans the six year period of Adolescence between the age of 13 and 19.

For me the Series represents an ongoing look at the adolescent boys’ heightened journey into self-discovery where one perceives subtly and yet vividly the metamorphosis in the states of minds.

My inspiration comes from Dutch painting, especially Vermeer’s mysterious domestic scenes and Rembrandt’s expressive tableaux. I am also influenced by conventions of cinema, especially the dramatic effects of set lighting.

www.martinefougeron.com