Selected for ‘40 over 40’ at SxSE Gallery

“A Capable Woman” (2023) by Rachel Nixon.

I’m delighted to have had my work selected for the new “40 over 40” exhibition which is now online at the South x Southeast Gallery.

Esteemed juror Elizabeth Avedon selected my piece “A Capable Woman” from my collage series reviving the story of my great-grandmother, “The Garden of Maggie Victoria”.

The image I used in this collage of Maggie Victoria is one of the first I ever saw of her, and it is striking that she is pictured doing housework - a theme that is familiar throughout my great-grandfather Frank's photos. In one of his letters to his eldest daughter, Frank expresses alarm that his wife insists on keeping the house in order even though she is ailing. He writes: "For a capable woman, she has very little idea of giving up her household work, she wants to order + plan + thinks nobody else can do it just right as if it matters one iota."

There’s a wide variety of talented photographers … over the age of 40 … represented in the online exhibition. All work is available for sale, so do take a look.