Manioc Production: Elenilde Correa, Eliane Correa, Neide Correa, Mariana Correa, Denize Correa & Maria Correa, Santa Rita Community, River Aripuana, Brazil

Since the early 1990s, Sharon Lockhart has created photographs and films that examine the complicated nature of representation, capturing routine life by immersing herself in the culture of her subjects. Here, Lockhart explores organizational structures of food production, family units, and methods of anthropology. The six photographs that comprise this piece depict six women filtering manioc, a common root vegetable eaten in Brazil. The intimate portraits are not only of workers but also of a family, the Correa women. Lockhart lists their full names in the artwork’s title as they appear in the photographs, from left to right, seemingly labeled for documentation. Yet the photographs are clearly staged, challenging anthropological practices by conflating the roles of subject and observer. In each image, the women face away except for the central figure, who looks toward the camera. The figures overlap from one photograph to the next, turning one by one and suggesting cinematic motion.