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Missing, from the series Life's Lessons


Bea Nettles, Missing, from the series Life's Lessons, 1986, gelatin silver print, Gift of the Artist, © Bea Nettles, 2011.74.50

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Details
Title

Missing, from the series Life's Lessons

Related Titles

original language: Missing

series (original language): Life's Lessons

Artist

Bea Nettles (American, born 1946)

Date

1986

Medium

gelatin silver print

Dimensions (H x W x D)

image: 19 1/16 in x 23 3/16 in; sheet: 19 7/8 in x 23 15/16 in

Collection Area

Photography

Category

Photographs

Object Type

photograph

Culture

American

Credit Line

Gift of the Artist

Accession Number

2011.74.50

Copyright

© Bea Nettles

Terms

gelatin silver prints

photographs

Description

Children and motherhood are central themes of Bea Nettles’s mature work. In 1986 she completed the series Life’s Lessons, which was inspired in part by her children’s fears of being taken by strangers. During the 1980s, the National Child Safety Council placed photographs of missing children on milk cartons, which spurred breakfast-time conversations between Nettles and her daughter, Rachel. Although these milk-carton portraits caused anxiety, the updated status of one missing child marked “found” became a source of joy for Rachel. Nettles captured the unsettling nature of the campaign in this photograph of multiple milk cartons, underscoring the number of missing youth, while the quick removal of one carton mirrors the sudden loss of the children depicted there.

History
Exhibitions

2012 Emerging: New Photography Acquisitions Portland Art Museum

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