A Perfect Mum #4

MA is British, but established himself as a fashion photographer in New York over the course of several years. His work straddles the line between commercial photography and art, and he draws heavily on his experience as a fashion photographer in his art projects.

A life-changing experience in his childhood—when it came to light that his father had a secret family, along with the consequences of this revelation—has shaped MA and his body of work. His father left the family, and his mother’s struggle to maintain a facade despite financial difficulties, among other things, has always stayed with him. He portrays women as Barbie-like stereotypes trapped in nightmarish life situations. They carry out their tasks—including social and self-imposed ones—in a robotic, scripted manner, surrounded by “frills and frivolity.” It is branding in the broadest sense.

It is a critique of our era’s fear of being left out, and the message is reinforced by Miles’s seductive use of color. From his experience in the fashion industry, he has seen how a “nobody” can, with the help of trappings and glamour, conceal their true identity and gain advantages that are perceived as important and necessary in today’s society.