Photographs from Karen Marshall's archive. Taken in the 1970's with a 1950's Rolleiflex Camera.

Portraits taken on the streets of San Francisco, New York, Louisiana, Boston and Northampton, Ma.



Artist Statement:

I came of age during the 1970s amongst the backdrop of a heightened sense of social awareness. Simultaneously, I fell in love with the narrative photograph because it had the ability to act as a witness, and distill transitory moments that can influence and reflect upon memory and history.

As an undergraduate student I started photographing with a vintage Rolleiflex. Influenced by documentary photography from the 1930s, I traveled with my camera to the backlands of Louisiana and Mississippi, and wandered the streets of San Francisco, New York, and the old industrial cities and farm communities of New England.

In 1985 my concerns shifted and I began a series of long-term projects that focus on the social and psychological lives of my subjects within the American landscape, most examining the coming of age of young people. My interest in the rituals and dynamics of contemporary familial relationships has directed my camera to these internal perspectives.

Rediscovering these early photographs through the process of editing and sequencing has revived my interest in what compelled me to make these images some thirty years ago. With an objective and seasoned eye, I can see particular themes emerge. My intention as a young photographer -- to consider the ‘sense of place’ that permeates cultural landscapes and to ponder ‘signs of the times’ -- continues to resonate for me. I remember feeling the urgency to connect to people through the lens of my camera, hoping that my photographs would be powerful enough to covey ideas about a world that rapidly changed around me.

Perhaps three decades later this archive has a new life: as an historic example of the photographic genre that was prevalent at the time and in its potential to transport us back in time to ideas and meanings that have since transformed.

Recently, perhaps because of my reconnection to these images, I have begun a new series called ‘People Now’ that takes me back to the theater of the streets and to shooting with my Rolleiflex.