The photographer’s 12-year long project visualizes aging bodies, intimacy, and hard-fought self-acceptance.

The story of Narcissus warns us against gazing too long at ourselves. The Greek mythical character, who eschewed real-time romantic attachments after falling in love with his own reflection, models existential detachment that undermines a full and happy life. If real and alive today, what would he say about our obsession with social media and all that it reports back to us?

Time As We Know It, Marna Clarke’s long form documentary project, doesn’t stray into navel or other self-sabotaging gazing. Instead, it marks the passage of time as it registers on our bodies. Self- and combined portraits of Clarke and her partner Igor convey the comfortable intimacy of a long term relationship that blossomed later in life. Gray hair and wrinkles and all the living that produced them are, in her compositions, treasured gifts, and provide balance to pervasive media messaging about youth and beauty.

Humble is pleased to highlight Clarke as one of our ten standouts from the 2021 Critical Mass Top 50 finalists. Be sure to check out a virtual exhibition of Time As We Know It at SF Camerawork before it closes on May 24th.

Roula Seikaly in conversation with Marna Clarke