Sara J. Winston earned a MFA in Photography at Columbia College Chicago in 2014. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Filter Space in Chicago, IL, and the Pingyao International Photography Festival in China. Her work is in the collection of The Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection in Chicago, IL, Franklin Furnace Artists’ Book Collection in Brooklyn, NY. Her recent book, Homesick, published with Zatara Press in 2015, was named one of the best books of 2015 by John Gossage for photo-eye. Sara lives in the Hudson Valley region of NY
A Lick and a Promise
In her mid-twenties Winston was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a manageable yet unpredictable chronic disease of the central nervous system. Erratic symptoms of her illness include bouts of temporary double vision, body numbness and sudden fatigue. During periods of relapse, her camera acts not only as a creative instrument, but also as a tool that interprets and clarifies the world beyond her arm’s length where her sight diverges and doubles.
A Lick and a Promise is a visual journal showcasing Winston, her parents, and her partner. Each manages a chronic physical condition, believed to be caused by a perfect storm of genetic and environmental factors. Winston’s photograph’s explore parallel struggles in wellness and states of debility as each maneuvers their respective invisible illness, invisible illness meaning conditions that significantly impair normal activities of daily living yet show no obvious outward signs of illness.
To view more of Sara’s work please visit her website.