‘The American Dream’ has been proclaimed the quintessential way of life around the world. Coined by author and historian James Truslow Adams in 1931, during the Great Depression, it is succinctly described as: “Dream of a better, richer and happier life for all our citizens of every rank.” When words grow, like humans, they evolve with time, developing new meanings and contexts. The American Dream, once equality and freedom, is now primarily a consequence of consumerism and capitalism. The only way to achieve it now is for those with financial and social means to pursue it. In contrast to the looming billboards dictating what the American Dream should look like, Barbara Peacock’s tranquil series, American Bedroom, embodies the spirit that should be making up this dream.
All images by Barbara Peacock. Used with permission. For more, please check out her website and Instagram @Barbara.peacock_abedroom.
Window to the Authentic American Soul
The series discovered its roots one early spring morning when Barbara Peacock noticed her husband draped with bed sheets resembling “a Renaissance painting.” The comfort of their room, the heirlooms that made up their past and present, and the framed photographs of smiling faces propelled her to document the “private worlds” and “personal expression within our living quarters.” Upon her loved ones’ approval of her concept for the series, Peacock navigated to look at those close to her as her first sitters. Once she had collected considerable images for the project that became the American Bedroom, Peacock applied for a Getty Editorial Grant, which she ultimately won. As the series matured, Peacock contacted various people on Facebook during her extensive travels across the states. She also created “4 x 5 postcards” and presented them to “mom-and-pop shops such as diners, hardware stores, and hair salons–places where everyone knew everyone.”
The portraits, thus, depict the diversity that makes up America. Marginalized communities, POC, or those in destitution—everyone shared a dignified space before Peacock’s compassionate lens. American Bedroom, also now a book of an identical title, paints a searing portrait of people’s ambitions, yearnings, apprehensions, and desire to find a purpose or foster an understanding of our world. “It is not so much about me taking a photograph, but them telling their story,” Barbara Peacock says. “Collectively, they are the voice of America.”
Carrying a simple setup of a Canon EOS 5D Mark1V, a 24mm f1.2, a tripod, and a strobe (to bounce light occasionally), Peacock’s photographs capture her sitters’ multi-layered personalities in the most articulate ways. Despite viewers looking at strangers in the pictures, there is a profound sense of understanding between us and them; in some ways, they reflect who we are and our society. “Capturing a bit of someone’s personality, I believe, comes from the subject trusting the photographer. That’s where it begins and how the bedroom door gets open. But there is more to it,” elaborates Barbara Peacock. “Besides a comfortable comradery that forms between us, my subjects need to feel that this is a collaboration and that the light is on them. Many folks may not have much of a voice and perhaps are unseen. Now, they have been given a platform.”
The Significance of Listening
It’s said that every person in our lives leaves an indelible mark on our very beings. A smile from a stranger on the subway, a polite thank you, or a deep, candid conversation on the train, each exchange can help us be finer versions of ourselves. Similarly, the plethora of people Peacock interacted with attuned her to the human condition, giving her a profound wisdom of our collective loneliness in metropolitan cities. “As a photographer, I have become more sensitive to people and the human condition,” she says. “I slowed down a bit to truly hear them and to spend more time with them if they desired it. Honestly, some folks are so lonely they want me to stay and talk, which I have done on many occasions.”
Recalling one incident, Peacock tells the tale of a 100-year-old woman living on a small town farm. While her conversation with her did not result in a portrait, the impression she left was far more unforgettable. “We sat on the farmhouse steps and chatted for a good while as she told me the story of her life and how her husband had passed, and her children had moved on. The light and the wind began to change, and she became concerned for me and my travels that evening,” says Peacock. When it was time for Peacock to leave, the lady came to drop her in the driveway and waved until Peacock left her home. “I got pretty choked up. I like to say that as important as photos are, they are not always the most important thing. Touching one another’s soul by simply listening and being present is one of the true beauties of life. That is the best lesson I have learned.”
For Barbara Peacock, photography was an interest that sparked off at the age of 5 due to her siblings’ Brownie cameras. However, decades later, she employs the medium to weave our current history with the fabric of our everyday lives, one photograph at a time. After all, these private but compassionate moments, plucked from reality, reveal the truth about the 21st-century American experience. American Bedroom is not just a photographic project but a chronicle illustrating that we are bound together by invisible threads. And beneath the porcelain masks we wear daily to hide our true selves, we continue to be vulnerable individuals longing to be seen, acknowledged, and treasured.
AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT
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