Sweet 16

Angela West’s Sweet 16 series is a collection of portraits taken in Dahlonega, Georgia and based on a photograph of the artist herself at 16 years old. The subjects were neither instructed nor prompted  beyond the notion that they were having a “formal” portrait made. Using the conventions of the studio, Ms. West creates portraits that allude to society painting, but with one social class of subjects standing in for another. The purpose of photographic portraiture is to document an appearance on a particular day, or at a certain age. These portraits underscore an expectation of beauty particular to the South, while decoding “16” as a universal female condition.

The young girls’ dress, makeup, and posture provide subtle references to personality and social status while also capturing the process of “becoming” - either in their masquerade of proper feminine behavior or quietly defying the social demand of civilized femininity.