Joaquim Paiva
My Mother

My Mother

© Joaquim Paiva

My Mother
My Mother
ArtistBrazilian, born 1946
CultureBrazilian
Titles
  • My Mother
  • from the series Family Portraits
Date2001
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 15 7/8 × 15 7/8 in. (40.3 × 40.3 cm)
Sheet: 17 3/8 × 17 3/8 in. (44.1 × 44.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of the artist
Object number2002.146
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

Joaquim Paiva’s passion for photography derives from his early experiences with family photographs. At four years old, he recalls how his mother would show him photographs of his recently deceased father, making his understandings of the relationship between memory and photography inherent in his most formative moments. “Photography as memory, as self-portrait as a souvenir, as one’s experiences in life—like the people you’ve met, places where you lived, feelings you tried to express in images—are an integral part of my relationship to photography,” says Paiva.

In his series Family Portraits, Paiva re-photographed family photographs of his parents as newlyweds to create a powerful tribute to the memory of his loved ones and a reflection of his own identity. The red dirt that frames each photograph is reminiscent of the dirt of Brasília, where Paiva lived for much of his life.


ProvenanceThe artist, Rio de Janeiro; given to MFAH, 2002.
Exhibition History"Ruptures and Continuities: Photography Made after 1960 from the MFAH Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Brown Foundation Galleries, February 21 - May 9, 2010.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed in pencil on verso lower center: "Joaquim Paiva, Family Portraits, 2001"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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My Father
Joaquim Paiva
2001
Chromogenic print
2002.145
My Parents
Joaquim Paiva
2001
Chromogenic print
2002.147
Back of My Parents' Portrait
Joaquim Paiva
2001
Chromogenic print
2002.148
Sem título
Joaquim Tenreiro
late 1950s
Oil on canvas
2005.1032
My Mother's Lips
Elinor Carucci
1997
Chromogenic print
2007.1674
My Grandfather on My Mother's Side, from the series Relations
Stephen Laub
1972, printed 1995
Silver dye bleach print
96.666
My Mother at my Uncle Viktor's House Warming Party
Dennis Yermoshin
2005, printed 2011
Gelatin silver print
2011.802
My Mother's Hand on Hospital Bed
Dan Burkholder
1996
Platinum print
2002.367
My Mother
Jan Saudek
1970's
Gelatin silver print with applied color
2002.2166
My Stilted Mother, Buffalo, New York
Les Krims
1976
Gelatin silver print with selenium toning
2002.3067
My Mother
Giorgio Von Arb
January, 1999
Inkjet print
2002.3402
My Mother's Friends at Étretat
Jacques-Henri Lartigue
c. 1902–1906
Gelatin silver print
2004.1563