Reoccuring Family Matters by MK (Monica Kennedy)

Issue 136

I was born in Mississippi and raised by my parents as well as my extended family in a rural town in Alabama. At the age of 11 my family moved to Texas. Change has always been difficult for me and this transition was no different. We moved to the border of Mexico, and my family was the only black family in every place we went. One of my biggest survival tactics during this time was to take photographs of my family with disposal cameras, and also of anything related to them whenever we had the chance to go back and visit our home.

Reoccurring Family Matters started as just sentimental objects found around my family’s home and has become some of the last remaining photographs of my family. Some of these family members I am meeting for the first time, in their old age and on their death beds. The camera is a way for me to explore and investigate why these reminders and memories are a large function of my needs in the present. This body of work calls attention to death, belongingness and a willingness to share my family’s history, leaving myself with a visual record of the traditions, and ways of life within my southern black family’s dynamic.

MK (Monica Kennedy) lives and works in Albuquerque, NM, USA.
To view more of MK’s work, please visit their website or find them on Instagram @mnkndy