Mary MacMaster
Old Boot
A series of black and white images showing worn footwear. Often bought to transform appearance or complete an outfit, boots and shoes quickly take on the marks of our lives – a crease here, a bulge there. In parallel are terms often used in conjunction with women’s bodies – encapsulated by the series title, Old Boot.
Performing Mrs Whistler
James Whistler painted the famous portrait of his mother, Anna, in 1871 when she was 67, younger than the current ages of both Joan Collins and Jane Fonda. In her day, when life expectancy was less than 50, she would have been an old woman - a good example of the fluidity of the meaning of age.
Self and Image
Some of these portraits are taken by the models themselves and others are directed by the photographer on a faux catwalk. Together they consider responses to some of the pressures experienced by women to maintain a youthful appearance.
Strangers to Ourselves
takes its title from Julia Kristeva’s book of the same name and deals with perceptions and experiences of ageing. Made in Strangers’ Hall, Norwich, a sixteenth century building housing a social history museum, it references the work of Dutch artists such as Vermeer, de Hooch, de Witte who often made narratives of women’s lives.