Chloe Ronco

“I did community murals during high school and early college.”

- Fun Fact about Chloe

Artist statement

I am using photography to tell the stories of the women in my family: my mother, my two younger sisters, and me. We are a working class family in Boston with a long history of addiction, abuse, and mental illness. I often feel as though society is ready to discard people like us. In response I make photographs that cherish those who aren’t usually represented. 

Through intimate portraits of my family, specifically of my sisters, I hope to represent our beauty and complexities. I want  to convey the different facets of our personalities as teenage girls, our strong family bond, our difficulties, and our experience growing up as women in America. These photographs are a way to tell my story as the eldest daughter carrying the weight of generational trauma. 

I have been photographing my sisters since they were 12 and 16 for 2 years. When I was their age, I faced bullying from my peers and was in abusive relationships; I suffered from eating disorders, self harm, and PTSD. With overworked parents and an underfunded school, I had little help or guidance and navigated these challenges alone. I am still haunted by these memories and wanted my sister’s teenage years to be easier than my own, yet the opposite happened. I watch as they turn their trauma into self hatred and self harm. I see the way they hide themselves, how this inner turmoil is ripping them from their childhoods. Seeing myself in them, as they face similar challenges, I have tried to protect and guide them. There is only so much I can do as they get older, and it grieves me to watch them suffer. Through conversations with my mother I know that she has gone through similar experiences as well growing up. I have come to realize that abuse can be a common experience for young women.  The legacy of this abuse is passed down along with expectations and obligations,  and yet  I have also inherited strength and resilience from my mother.

 I use photography as a way to connect with my family, to try and show them how I see them — how their hard exteriors are nothing but shields. Through the act of taking the pictures, I am able to connect and care for them. I want to convey the bonds we share, and show where we have come from and how we grew up. At times I find myself feeling hopeless, but I make these pictures as a way for me to have my sisters authentically see themselves. I want to instill confidence and love, for them to know who they are and how I see them truly.

Biography

Norwood, MA

Chloe Ronco is a 22 yr old proud queer artist. She is a graduating senior at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, majoring in photography. Her work revolves around the idea of  capturing her community and family, displaying her subjects' personalities and complex stories through intimate portraiture. Chloe strives to be an advocate for those who are often overlooked, she makes work to bring more awareness to the lack of accessibility for mental health care and addiction. Outside of photography, Chloe works with a group of friends on murals for communities around Massachusetts. She grew up painting and drawing before she found photography and hopes to continue this passion upon graduating.

Interview

Cora - Hi Chloe! Thank you so much for taking time to meet with me and allowing me to ask you some questions about your work. I am very excited to be working with you because even though I am a huge fan of your work, I am somewhat in the dark on what your work is really about, and what the process has been like for you. One thing I do know is that we both have a passion for portraiture, but your work focuses more on using your family as the subjects. Personally, I find it hard to photograph my family. What has it been like for you? Has it made things easier, or brought on more challenges?

Chloe - I think it has its pros and cons, like any subject really. The biggest upside is obviously location, we are always together in one house so I can easily set up and take pictures when it's convienent. I am lucky enough to have a super supportive tight knit family so they are all on board with my project and aren't too hard to convince. The project being as sensitive as it is I have run into some issues. My sisters are young and sometimes they don't fully understand what I am doing, which I don't expect them to. We have definitely had our own passionate exchanges about everything but communication is key with things like this. I just try to fully explain my ideas, what they represent and if they are comfortable with it, all is well. I also try to always treat my sisters with something every shoot because I appreciate their help and trust. 

Cora - That's really amazing that you're able to connect with them through your work, and it seems like this has really helped bring you even closer and allowed you to spend more time with them. So does your family know the full concept around the work? How much information are you giving them as you photograph them? 

Chloe - I try to be as clear and as open as possible. I've had a hard time reflecting on anything negative regarding them, but for me the project just shows the complexities that everyone has. My mother probably has the hardest time with anything negative but I am always fully honest and she is very supportive of the messages I want to portray. I show them any and all photos I take and any books/ artist statements for anything they don't want said. My youngest sister Mejia is the most in the dark because we made a deal that I can take pictures of her as long as she doesn't see them. I hope someday she will come around but for now she's content with hearing me talk about the project and seeing images without her present. We are a very open minded family and have such deep connections with each other that they understand everything I am trying to say and can see my side of things, and that at the end of the day the project is more a reflection of me than anything. 

Cora - I am so glad that you have that, and I admire the compromises you make to include everyone in ways they are comfortable with. I notice that you do tackle a lot of heavy topics within your work, how have you been dealing with some topics coming up that you aren't fully comfortable to talk about yet? 

Chloe - It can be really hard, I never really get a chance to get away from everything I talk about, it surrounds me everyday and is my life. I've had tough moments where it all has become too much. I am a pretty open book so there isn't much I'm not comfortable talking about. I just have a hard time speaking and with certain things my PTSD makes me shut down a bit. I just try to stay calm and remember that the work is important and that I want to share my experiences and not hide from them. I'm hoping to be more open and comfortable in the future when talking about my past.

Cora - How has focusing on these experiences affected your relationship with your work?

Chloe - I think it deepens the connection I have with my work because there’s so much passion surrounding it. My sisters are everything to me and they are the reason I was able to face everything I have been through. I truly think I have only been strong enough so I can be here for them. The process of sharing my experiences and family through photography is also a very cathartic experience, it helps me vent where I usually just keep these things to myself. I think overall for me and my family it has led to being a healing experience. I don't think I have been this proud of anything I've ever made before and I couldn't imagine making anything else right now. 

Cora - That's really amazing that it has helped bring you closer to your work. How has it affected any of the relationships in your family? 

Chloe - Overall it has brought us all together, my sister Mejia and I especially. We never really had a bond until this past year and I couldn't be happier with where we are at together. She has been my rock through a lot of this process and I am so proud of how far she has come. My mother and I were always close and the same with my sister Emma. Emma and I have had a situation where things escalated but we talked through it and it strengthened our bond in the end. They are both in tough spots of growing up so I understand their responses to things even if it isn't always fair. I just try to be there for them, I want this project to be something they can look back on and be proud of how far they have come.

Cora - That's amazing. How are you feeling about inviting everyone to see into your family life? 

Chloe - For me my family has always welcomed anyone and everyone with open arms, our house is always full of people. So this doesn't feel that unnatural to me. The project also only shows a small percentage of what our dynamics are like and it's all through my eyes. I show how I see my family members, and how they make me feel. My family is incredibly chaotic, close, funny and there are just so many aspects of them that aren't seen in the work. This project at times can almost feel like I am representing a story of my family, but it isn't exactly them. The truth is there in the story but most photographs are staged for me to tell a specific narrative. 

Cora - As we get closer to our gallery event, how do you see the work being shown? Will you have a book to go along with the prints you show? 

Chloe - I know I will have prints on the wall, probably collaged in different sizes. My work lends itself to being stronger with complimenting images together. I might bring in some items to add to the display but I will have a photobook to go along with it if everything goes to plan.

Cora - Any ideas on how you see this project evolving in the future? Is this something that you plan on continuing with your family/sisters? 

Chloe - I hope I am able to keep photographing them in the future, I think if anything it may get segmented into other projects. I would love to travel and meet more women and hear their stories and photograph them. My mother also has an amazing story and I can see myself exploring that with her someday. I know I will always photograph my sisters even if it isn't in the scope of this project. 

Cora - Thank you so much Chloe. You were extremely generous in what you shared with me. I am so glad we got to get together and ask each other about our work. It has been a great opportunity hearing from you and I cannot wait to see how the gallery turns out!