Marna Clarke: Time As We Know It

ONLINE EXHIBITION: March 1 - May 31, 2022

ARTIST TALK WITH MARNA CLARKE
Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 6:00 - 7:00 PM PDT

In a time when society seems to prioritize youth and physical beauty and secretly manifests ageism in the job market, older adults are often rendered invisible. Yet, today, there are more than 46 million people who are 65 and older living in the U.S., a number that will grow to almost 90 million by 2050. Marna Clarke’s brave and revealing series, Time As We Know It, which she began around the time of her 70th birthday in 2010, charts the figural transformation of the aging human body, while also documenting the tender relationship between partners who found each other late in life.

The images Clarke makes are tough, beautiful, and infinitely humanizing. In these works, Clarke confronts the inevitability of decline and death, using photography to preserve moments in life’s timeline. Particularly poignant are Changing a Lightbulb, 2019, a self-portrait of Clarke being supported by her partner, Igor as she changes a bulb in the ceiling, and Intimate Moment, which captures the two in a gentle passing interchange in their bedroom.  In these, the love and respect between the two partners is palpable. In many ways, the project is a collaboration, and would not have been possible without her partner’s openness to making vulnerable moments public. Powerful and raw are Squats, 2021, a nude of Igor exercising by a stair rail, and Under the Painting, 2021, which shows his looking frail after breaking his elbow.  Interspersed, are beautiful domestic moments suffused in late-afternoon light like 90th Birthday, 2019, a photograph of the back of her partner’s head, his white thinning hair highlighted by sunlight, and images of objects like Blue Shirt, 2014, that are meaningful markers of presence and perhaps metaphors for the inevitable absence to come.

Clarke also tracks the decline of her own body in this series. Early works depict her in beautiful middle age, nude from the back with only subtle hints of aging visible, or in her living room holding a glass of wine with self-confidence. In later photographs, like Post-Cataract Surgery, 2021, Clarke shares the more dramatic changes to her body. Together, these works present a revealing and unvarnished look at aging. They offer us a view into a very private realm that shows us the strengths and frailties of the human body, and the human capacity and necessity for connection and empathy.

               – Olivia Lahs-Gonzales, Executive Director, San Francisco Camerawork

Press Release
”SF Camerawork - Marna Clarke: Time As We Know It,” The Eye of Photography, February 21, 2022

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am 81 years old, my partner 92.  On my 70th birthday, I woke from a dream in which I had rounded a corner and seen the end. This disturbing dream moved me to begin photographing the two of us, chronicling our time of growing old.

Now, eleven years out, he and I face numerous physical challenges: decreased mental acuity, especially memory; the diminished quality of our skin, hair and teeth; mild disfigurement; as well as the need to tend vigilantly to our balance, hearing, sight, physical agility and getting adequate sleep. Inside we are learning to accept what is, sometimes going from anger, impatience, sadness or fear to seeing the humor in the idiosyncrasies of growing old. We realize that if we can be comfortable with our own aged appearances and limitations, then the potential exists that others will become more comfortable witnessing this transformation and possibly become more comfortable with their own.

I have entered taboo territory, aging and death. The creation of these photos is part of my own way of dealing with the inevitability of dying by bringing attention to it and accepting it. I have come to embrace them as a tribute not just to our lives but also to the demanding and courageous task of growing old gracefully, graciously, and aware. A certain wisdom is evolving from years of living and observing, eventually unveiling previously unseen associations, patterns and similarities. I am gaining a much-appreciated perspective that was not available to me as a younger woman.

               – Marna Clarke, Artist