Autumn Dean/ Julie Blackmon

Julie Blackmon is photographer that can capture everyday domestic life and turn it into a fictitious encounter.  Her early works were a series of black and white images that focus on childhood playing.  She uses her children and other family members in a lot of her work.  What makes her work so special is that she can use children and ordinary things in a household and turn her pictures into fine art instead of just a snapshot of her children playing.  Dutch and Flemish painters, especially Jan Steen, also influence her.  By taking a note from the past she creates fantastic environments, she takes everything into consideration down to what a person might be eating in a background.  Another element that influences her work is that she grew up in a very large family.  She had nine siblings and now has three children of her own.  She uses her experiences and interactions with her family as motivation for her work.  She loves to show the family dynamics and the humor that can be found in many of these situations.  With her new body of work she is showing more and more the struggle of the “mom’s” role.  In an artist statement of hers she describes our culture as “child centered” and “self obsessed”.  How are you suppose to possibly even come close to fulfilling those to major roles in life.  But it isn’t just our culture now that has struggled with these dilemmas.  That is why she shows both sides of the family life.  I believe her work is so remarkable because of just that.