Annick Sjobakken is a Des Moines based photographer and educator. She received her BFA in Photography in 2003 from Parsons School of Design and her MFA in Photography, Video, and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts in 2009. Her work has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, Fraction Magazine, Aint–Bad, Lenscratch, The Ones We Love, and PDN and has been shown in numerous exhibitions.
I Really Need Some Personal Space
The age between 18 and 22 is particularly interesting to me. It is at this point in life when many people simultaneously exhibit childlike qualities and qualities of their future adult selves. To try to capture this duality I spent a year photographing my youngest sister during her sophomore year of college in Gambier, Ohio.
As I became closer to my sister while making this body of work it became clear that she was going through a difficult time. Making this series of images then became a way to try to spend more time with her and an attempt to try to ease her pain. My sister has never been a very communicative person but by letting herself be photographed she is communicating something of herself to the outside world. I see these images as plot fragments that come together to tell the story of a period in a young woman’s life. I hope that this series will give some clues to her particular story while giving space to the viewer to create their own narrative.
To view more of Annick’s work please visit her website.