Sarah Malakoff: Personal History – LENSCRATCH

I have been photographing interior spaces for a very long time and find that different themes and threads interest me as I work.  My first book, Second Nature, looked at the home as both a refuge from and a reinvention of the outside, natural world. While shooting, other objects started catching my attention.  I noticed portraits displayed in the home and was fascinated by who they represent, what the connection might be to the occupant, and the relationship to other items and architecture.  A good number of the portraits, much more than I would have thought, were of figures from history- Marie Antoinette, Napoleon, Yuri Gagarin.  With this in mind, I started looking for other possessions that reference historical events and locations.  I found these things and their placement within the home variously humorous, touching, and sometimes disturbing.