QUINCE
Through photography, I analyze the ceremonial practice of ‘La Quinceañera,’ a popular ritual within Hispanic culture that celebrates a young girl’s transition from girlhood into womanhood at the age of 15. As someone who personally rejected this ceremony, I reflect on the social implications of the ritual as well as the material practice of keeping significant formal dresses within a girl’s life, despite the lack of continual use. I photograph Quince dresses from store front windows to convey the distance between myself and my girlhood, as well as the separation I, as a Mexican American, have always felt from my culture and history.
2023-2024