Anna and Eve: Where a Mother–Daughter Bond Begins to Blur

Collater.al Contributors

An ancient technique that continues to find fertile ground in contemporary photography, thanks to artists who, rather than turning to reportage or documentary photography, choose to tell their projects through true theatrical stagings. This is also what photographer Viktoria Sorochinski does. Ukrainian-born and Canadian by adoption, she began shaping one of her longest-running projects in Montreal: the photographic series Anna and Eve (2005–2012).

The project follows the life of a young mother and her little girl — both of Soviet origin, like the photographer — empathetically documenting the bond between them and the growth they both have to face: little Eve taking her first steps in the world, Anna approaching a new life, both as a mother and as a young woman in a foreign land. Lasting seven years, the project stages the lives and everyday routines of the two young women through scenarios built against a backdrop of folk tales and myths, which were fundamental for Sorochinski in the creation of a shared knowledge.

And yet, the scenes devised by the artist are not based on specific myths or stories, but rather on new reflections and interpretations of the mother–daughter relationship. In Sorochinski’s shots, the balance and relationship between the two are repeatedly overturned. This is the case in photographs such as Switching Places and Attachment, where little Eve is seen taking care of her mother, almost becoming an anchor for Anna. This is emphasized by the child’s serious gaze, an expression carrying an age that does not yet belong to her biologically, but that her hypnotic blue eyes seem to fully embody.

This stands in sharp contrast to the mother’s sometimes defenseless, dreamlike expression. Viktoria Sorochinski gives space to many themes and emotions in this series: Exchanging Wisdom stages the passing of knowledge and wisdom from parent to child; Asylum and Sprouting Roots, on the other hand, refer to exile and to the desire to keep traditions and one’s own folklore alive even when far from home. Similarly, Paths and Nearly a Woman represent growth and the different paths that, inevitably, sooner or later, mother and daughter will have to take.

Anna (the mother) and Eve (the daughter) particularly intrigued me when I first met them in 2005, because the boundary between child and adult woman was unusually fragile. This was mainly due to the young age of the mother; at times, she seemed more childlike than her three-year-old daughter. It was often difficult to understand who held power and control between the two, and who was learning the essence of being human in this world.

Anna and Eve is a glimpse into the everyday lives of two young exiled women who are learning how to make room for themselves in the world, how to find their place, learning and growing together. It is a perfect example of contemporary portrait photography that looks into the lives of two strangers with deep respect, empathy, and curiosity. This project sits halfway between fantasy and documentary. Although all the scenes are staged, they reveal a real relationship between a mother and her daughter.