Ellen Warner | The Second Half: 40 Women Reveal Life After 50
Ellen Warner: Roxy Beaujolais, publican, London, England
On View Sept. 30 – Oct. 29, 2022
The Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University is proud to present "The Second Half: 40 Women Reveal Life After 50," a solo exhibition in the Kniznick Gallery by American photojournalist, portrait photographer and author Ellen Warner, co-sponsored by Brandeis University Press.
"In the second half, you know who you are, and you are liberated by not caring about what others think of you… wisdom kicks in, intuition takes over, and you can accept yourself, flaws and all, with greater ease and clarity."
—Ellen Warner, "The Second Half: 40 Women Reveal Life After 50," Brandeis University Press
Over the course of 15 years, Ellen Warner interviewed and photographed women from different cultures about life after age 50 — from an author and translator in Connecticut to a sacred healer in Indonesia, a doctor in Saudi Arabia, a retired cook in Antigua and the first French woman TV anchor.
"The Second Half" presents Warner's analog black-and-white photographs accompanied by excerpts of the women's interviews. Intimate and frank, Warner’s portraits reflect the aesthetics, traditions and landscapes of their subjects' environments —gnarled apple trees, bookshelves, gilded mirrors, stucco city blocks — and the histories they hold. Spanning decades and cultures, Warner's portraits and interviews celebrate the wisdom, resiliency and joy of women in their second half of life.
The exhibition is presented by the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis with co-sponsorship by the Brandeis University Press.