For my series "Overlays," I put the woman at the center of her narrative. Her emotions are her own and run the gamut. Each frame contains a mini story in which she is infused by an image of nature, often landscaped by humans. The two images dance together to create an illusion, a memory, a dream. Each image makes still an essence of movement.

I photographed my friends, all mothers, in environments familiar to them. I was inspired to photograph these women to get in touch with my own transition to “middle age.” While I thought my culture’s ageism would make me feel more invisible and expendable at this stage in life, I never felt more important, especially with balancing the needs of my children and my dying parents.

Each photograph is collaged with an image from nature with some reference to human intervention, however subtle, like an irrigation line, orderly planted trees, or non-native shrubbery. I kept being drawn to these depictions of nature—beautiful yet manipulated. Both nature and womanhood are revered, as long as they adhere to our society’s standards for orderly presentation.

MICHELLE LONGOSZ

MICHELLE LONGOSZ