The beautiful mundanity of family life
A photographer turns her camera on her family to expose the social stigmas and extraordinary ordinariness of living with Down Syndrome
From Looking for Alice, edited by Trolley Books. (Sian Davey © Michael Hoppen Gallery)The only differences, really, are that Davey is a professional photographer, and that Alice has Down Syndrome — a chromosomal disorder that affects approximately one in 1,000 babies born worldwide each year.
From Looking for Alice, edited by Trolley Books. (Sian Davey © Michael Hoppen Gallery)"I was very cautious about (the series) not being about diagnosis," Davey said in an interview. "I didn't want to narrow the focus to this, because there are many complex narratives in there — and it's about me as well. I have my own story in there, which I'm beginning to witness more and more."The series, Looking for Alice, begins when Alice is just 1 year old. But in the half-decade since, Davey, 52, has continued to develop this moving body of work, bringing the whole family in Devon, England, into the frame more and more.Davey's photographs are watchful, an outsider looking in on birthday parties, lazy afternoons, and cold winter mornings. But with simple framing and a light touch, Davey both exposes societal prejudices about Down Syndrome (in one photo, Alice hovers at the outskirts of a circle of her sister's teenage friends) and embraces the beautiful ordinariness of her family (in others, Alice romps around on the couch or is doted on by her grandparents).
Sian Davey
Looking for Alice, edited by Trolley Books. (Sian Davey © Michael Hoppen Gallery
Looking for Alice, edited by Trolley Books. (Sian Davey © Michael Hoppen GalleryDavey, who is also a practicing psychotherapist, notes that these are the same themes she studies in her professional life."As a psychotherapist it is inevitable, but I'm so interested in these ideas of exclusion and connection," Davey said. "Alice is someone who really defies all those stereotypes. So, while I'm telling a story for Alice, it's also a universal one. One which touches people in very different levels."
Looking for Alice, edited by Trolley Books. (Sian Davey © Michael Hoppen Gallery
Looking for Alice, edited by Trolley Books. (Sian Davey © Michael Hoppen GalleryAs for what Alice, now 6 years old, thinks of the series?"About a year ago, I showed her the book," Davey said. "And she just kept saying, ‘It's me, it's me, it's me'."
Looking for Alice, edited by Trolley Books. (Sian Davey © Michael Hoppen Gallery
Looking for Alice, edited by Trolley Books. (Sian Davey © Michael Hoppen Gallery**Looking for Alice, published in 2015, has been shortlisted for the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation's 2017 Book awards. For more of Sian Davey's work, check out her website.**
