Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/1414025
Like any great luxury jewelry brand, Tiffany & Co. is known for iconic pieces (think Elsa Peretti Bone cuff) that come to defi ne it. In the latest chapter of the house, a new icon debuts: Tiffany Knot. This striking lineup of bracelets, rings, necklaces, pendants and earrings is inspired by chain-link, an architectural symbol taken from the streets of New York. Crafted from 18K gold, and sometimes with a smattering of pavé diamonds, this is one knot you won' t want to unravel, PHOTOS FROM FAMILY MATTERS (APERTURE, 2021). © GILLIAN LAUB; COURTESY OF TIFFANY & CO. (KNOT) CHAIN REACTION Who among us hasn't looked around the dinner table and wondered, "how are we related?" Photographer Gillian Laub takes that existential question on a journey of photographic exploration in her new book, Family Matters. Here, Laub peels back a few layers for Bal Harbour. —Tali Minor Photography as therapy is how one might interpret your process of creating Family Matters. Would you agree? The process of making this work was absolutely a form of therapy. That's one aspect of the work. It forced me to look inward in ways that were very uncomfortable and unsettling. I think when we go to those diffi cult places and face them head on, that is where real growth can happen. The camera and writing has always been how I process, digest and refl ect. The tension between insider and outsider, belonging and estranged is so powerful in your work. Do you still fi nd yourself wrestling with those feelings? I was born wrestling with those feelings. They don't exactly go away, but as I have gotten older and continue to fi nd my place in the world, they have lessened. I am grateful that my family accepts and loves me for who I am with all our differences. In all of my work I have always been attracted to certain tensions within people and culture. It's how we navigate them that is the interesting and challenging part. When you set out on this process of discovery "to get closer to what was making me so uncomfortable," as you put it, did you recognize that this project would resonate with your viewers in a way that could be equally as therapeutic for them? I fi rst make my work because I feel utterly compelled to. The dream and hope is that it will resonate with others. Family is about love—with all its complicated dynamics—and that is something I think we can all connect with. We are Family Gillian Laub, Wedding dress fi tting, 2008; End of summer, 2008 and the book cover. All from Family Matters (Aperture, 2021). Tiffany Knot bracelets in 18K yellow gold, with pavé diamonds and rose gold. "Family Matters," Laub's solo exhibition, is on view through January 10, 2022 at New York's International Center of Photography. 66 BAL HARBOUR