Alison Taggart-Barone is a photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area. In her series Ova Mundi, she documents intricately hand painted eggs that have been left over time to decay and transform into objects of beauty and repulsion. The eggs themselves symbolize the passage of time, and how time affects us all. Through metaphor, these photographs shed light on polarities encountered in life such as beauty verses decay and life verses death. The eggshells give visual reference to the ideas of protection and vulnerability, akin to our contemporary culture. I asked Taggart-Barone to expand upon the significance of fertility within this project. She states: This project started while I was moving into the next stage of my life as a woman. My kids were grown and gone, my body was changing in all sorts of ways, and I was aging faster than I could comprehend. Fertility is central to our understanding of womanhood, so when it decays completely, where does that leave us as individuals, and a society? I want to celebrate a different definition of these concepts that embrace the reality of the passage of time.
Ova Mundi
I’ve been photographing eggs for over 8 years, and I’m continuously fascinated by the uniqueness of each one. They redefine concepts of beauty and aging, reference the decay of our planet, and often brings to mind the possibility of other universes. I’m concerned with the passage of time, with aging and with revisiting fleeting moments of extreme beauty. Photography helps me re-think, re-experience, and re-process what happens around me so I can gain deeper understanding of how we move through our lives, and what it means to be alive.
Alison Taggart-Barone been involved with photography since the late 1960’s and is currently the Photo Editor for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. She holds a BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology, and an MA from San Francisco State University.
