Fading Light1

• Prize
• Photographer
  Elizabeth Siegfried, Canada
• Website
  http://elizabethsiegfried.com
• Instagram
  https://www.instagram.com/elizabeth_siegfried_photo/

Fading Light 1 is one image from a collection of twenty to twenty-five portraits of my mother taken during her ninety-eighth and ninety-ninth years, culminating in her 100th birthday. Suffering from Dementia for the past three years, my mother still possesses extraordinary beauty and an impressive will to live. My motive in making these portraits was to celebrate the light that still shines, although often dimly, as I caught poignant glimpses of her day-to-day struggles and frustrations in contrast with occasional displays of childlike pleasure. My goal is to have an exhibition of Fading Light to honor the life, strength and courage of all elderly parents who struggle through their waning years with dignity, beauty and grace
Considering my mother’s delicate state, I took each portrait with an iPhone, to minimize the invasive nature of working in such close personal space. My mother has been the willing subject of my photographs for the past twenty years, and I believe it is important, for both of us, that her participation in my creative process continues. The central theme of my photographic work always has brought together the topics of family, the passage of time and generations and the cycles of life. Fading Light is the next step in my continuing exploration of these topics.

Elizabeth Siegfried, born in Baltimore Maryland, has lived and worked in Canada for nearly thirty years. She has a BA in English from Skidmore College (1977) and a Master of Fine Arts in Photography from Maine Media College (2019). Siegfried’s work has been exhibited internationally and reproduced in such publications as Black & White Magazine, SHOTS magazine, and Camera Arts. In 2017 the CBC aired a video on her multi-generational collaboration called CIRCUS! Siegfried’s work is represented in collections including the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts and The National Gallery of Canada.

Awards 2021 - FotoNostrum Magazine- Portfolio Published
2020 - 16th JMCA- Fine Art Honourable Mention
2020 - 15th Annual B&W Spider Awards Nominated Art/Architecture
2020 - 14th Annual B&W Spider Awards - Nominated Portrait
2019 - TIFA People/Family Gold
2014 - Px3- Family 3rd Prize Bronze
2012 - Px3- Altered Images/Fine Art Honourable Mention