The scenes depicted in Julie Blackmon‘s photographs are unmistakably contemporary: small children playing in front of Airstream campers; cluttered garage sales that spill into the driveway; a sulky, black-clad youth smoking against the exterior wall of a grocery store. But if you sense something classic in their composition, that’s no mistake — Blackmon’s beautifully composed photos are inspired by the lively, chaotic households of 17th-century Dutch genre painter Jan Steen and reflect her life as one of nine children and, now, a mother of three. “The stress, the chaos, and the need to simultaneously escape and connect are issues that I investigate in this body of work,” she writes. Click through to see a selection of Blackmon’s photos, discovered via Beautiful/Decay, and if you’re in the Chicago area, consider visiting her show Homegrown , which opens September 6 at Edelman Gallery.
Julie Blackmon, Airstream (2011)
Julie Blackmon, Stock Tank (2012)
Julie Blackmon, Garage Sale (2013)
Julie Blackmon, Chaise (2013)
Julie Blackmon, Fire (2012)
Julie Blackmon, Hair (2013)
Julie Blackmon, High Dive (2010)
Julie Blackmon, Sharpie (2011)
Julie Blackmon, Homegrown Food (2012)
Julie Blackmon, Picnic (2012)