Artist Visual Review: Nina Röder’s Mutters Schuhe

As soon as I encountered Nina Röder’s work, I was stunned. The German photographer’s work was unlike anything I have been exposed to or expressed interest in. I usually gravitate towards candid photos, where the subject is captured at the moment. However, Röder’s photos are staged and strategically planned as she focuses on staged photography. I thought this take on photography was incredibly interesting. Through staged photography, Röder is able to create a work of art just as a painter plans their work.

I found Röder’s photo series “Mutters Schuhe” incredibly captivating. I have always liked photo series that shows aging or difference in the subject. Typically, the ones I have seen are taken over many years with the same subject. However, Röder’s interpretation of this type of series involves her, her mother, and her grandmother, each playing the same subject. The subject in all the photos is Röder’s mother from a memory Röder can remember her mother telling her about.

Röder’s series is made up of three separate series. The first involves the subjects in the bathroom, using Röder’s memory of her mother’s career as a hairdresser for reference. The second uses the memory of the story of her mother’s disastrous prom. The third depicts the mother’s memory of her late best friend and her connection to make-up.

Röder utilizes a multitude of techniques throughout the first series. The most pervasive I saw was the color. Röder carefully matches the color of the dresses to that of the wall and the pink of the mirror to the toilet cover, towels, and flowers. The use of color connects the subject to the setting and background of the photo, making them a part of their environment. The setting is a vital part of the story of this series, as her mother was a hairdresser and the bathroom is where most people would do their hair. We can also note that in the first picture, with the grandmother, the subject's hair is still in tighter curlers. As the series continues, the curlers come out and she gradually becomes more put together. Röder also uses composition to create consistency throughout the photo, as all three women are in relatively the same place in the frame. This consistency allows each woman to be a part of the same subject.

In the second series, Röder also uses color to match the subject to the background. The subject’s outfit matches the curtain, carpet, and flowers. The composition also plays an important role in the continued consistency of the series. While the three women change their sitting positions, they all remain in the same space of the photo, seamlessly transforming into each other. The facial expressions of all three women also help to depict the tone of the memory that is on display. This series depicts Röder's mother’s terrible prom experience. The grandmother, mother, and Röder all carry expressions of frustration and disappointment, demonstrating her mother’s feelings of that very night.

Finally, the third series reflects one last memory of Röder’s mother. The three women all sit in front of a vanity mirror, recounting the memory of the mother’s best friend, who has now passed, who first introduced her to make-up. Here, Röder uses reflection, especially in the photo of her grandmother and herself. Their faces can clearly be seen in the mirror, but less so with her mother. This may be to do with the fact that this series deals specifically with a most likely painful memory for the mother. Furthermore, unlike the other photos, the outfit the subject wears less so blends into the background but rather stands out. The dark brown dress contrasts the white walls and dresser, emphasizing the importance vanity had in this memory of her mother’s.

In this photo series, Röder effectively captures the essence of generational experiences and the power of the subject in a photograph. The grandmother, mother, and Röder essentially play the same subject and demonstrate how a subject can age and grow within the same photo. Röder also shows how life changes throughout generations, with the hair in the first and reflections in the third, and how life stays the same, with the facial expressions in the second. Röder’s staged work showed me that meticulously planned photos are equally captivating and full of meaning as any candid photo could be. Her execution of these memories of her mother is carefully planned and brings to life the women of her family and their importance.