Joanna Madloch Our Grandmothers The goal of my project is to create a collective portrait of Our Grandmothers as seen through their photographic portraits and the memories retold by their granddaughters. For the last year, I have talked to the women who shaped and influenced my life—friends, coworkers, neighbors—asking them to share stories of their grandmothers while showing me their family pictures. Finally, I photographed these women with a chosen photographic portrait of their grandmother(s). As of today, I have collected over forty interviews. My goal is to reach seventy-nine, one for each year of my grandmother’s life. I conceived this project as a tribute to my grandmother, Janina. Not only was she the person who raised me and taught me how to love and be loved, but she was also my very first friend. Our friendship defied any generation or cultural gap that existed between us. When I became pregnant, my grandmother was beyond excited for her great granddaughter to be born. Sadly, she fell ill and died shortly after my daughter, Ala, was born and before she could meet her. When I began telling my friends about this project they often reacted enthusiastically. It turned out many of them felt as strongly about their grandmothers as I did about mine. In addition, despite geographical and cultural differences, the stories we told were very similar. Overwhelmingly, they are tales of persistence and determination, of women who not only survived great deprivations, but also, often against great odds, managed to support their loved ones, and live fulfilling lives. Despite these achievements, in the paradigm these women lived, their voices were muted. My project is intended to fill this gap. Through the time I’m dedicating to this project, I see it evolving from a eulogy to my own grandmother into a tribute to all of Our Grandmothers. One of my greatest pleasures is sharing memories with other women and discovering our common experiences. Many of the women that I talked to said that this project made them reach out to family members and search for old photographs that they haven’t looked at for many years. At this point the work is not mine only, but a collective effort of all the women featured in it. My project involves substantial travel and the grant I am applying for would help me cover the expenses associated with both cost of gas and public transformation tickets. While this work is driven by passion, my subjects often live in places which require day trips. Lack of funds can significantly narrow the spectrum of possible subjects. Each woman I spoke with as well as the ones I am planning to interview has a special place in my life. Traveling to include them in this project is essential for its success and I will not be able to do so without the aid that this grant would provide me with.