In the Presence of Family
Photographs by Ann Rosen

For the past 11 years, I have been photographing families and the intermingling of cultures and ethnic groups of the residents of Cobble Hill, Park Slope, Sunset Park, Crown Heights, and downtown Brooklyn. My project chronicles family diversity as exhibited through intermarriage, biracial adoption, integration, and same sex marriages. People, their gestures and expressions, their connections with their surroundings, are my subject.

In the Presence of Family has evolved through several stages. In 1999, I photographed families in black & white and used a photographic process reminiscent of the 19th century—a hand-applied black & white emulsion. I believed that each family’s history was paramount to creating a complete portrait. Therefore, I inscribed the family stories on wide frames that surrounded each image. (press here for the Black & White Portraits that represent this group)