Artist's Statement

Isabel Magowan

“Cygnets" reflects on the strange and unsettling moments when childhood naiveté chips away as youngsters come to internalize the anxiety and pressure of cultural norms and social expectations. “Cygnets” imagines young identity in its fragile Innocence, and its vulnerability to its own growing consciousness. Part observation, part improvisation, part performance, the images that make up “Cygnets” make up a cryptic swan song, that is an attempt to see the moments in which children become increasingly self aware, internalizing and playing out learned concepts regarding success, desire, and beauty. In “Cygnets” the photographer reflects on the process by which young identity forms against a backdrop of contradictory cultural messages. What lingers for the photographer is the unforeseen possible consequences down the road- what becomes of the playful child once lost to a world of unrealistic standards?