statement
   

These wet plate collodion images are inspired by The Girl’s Own Book (published 1834) by Mrs. Lydia Maria Child *. The book characterizes nineteenth-century New England childhood and the society that supported it. In it, I found many entertaining activities that were taught to me as a child by the women who raised me. This work amalgamates themes of honoring history, familial nostalgia and how we educate and socialize children through toys, games and playtime.

*Mrs. Child (February 11, 1802 – October 20, 1880) was an American abolitionist, women's rights activist, opponent of American expansionism, Indian rights activist, novelist, journalist and is America's first published abolitionist writer. The Girl’s Own Book has been re-printed many times over and is evidence of generational passing on of information.