When reading the title It’s a Good Life, one might think it references the American dream—wealth and beauty.

Local artist Talia Potash’s exhibit of 21 photographs at Martha Street Studio, however, is the polar opposite of that, exploring children and the elderly. Potash said she chose to focus on those two stages of life because of their vulnerability.

One of the images sure to draw people’s attention is “He Is Very Old.” Photographed waiting for someone or something, this man’s face is etched with lines and the skin has fallen so far off his face it is nearly gone. His hands are folded behind his back holding a large bag. He is dressed up in a suit and looks as though he is going somewhere important.

Similarly, there is “Berlin Girl,” a photo of a young girl who could be sitting at a bus stop or bench waiting for someone. She is sitting with a cigarette in her mouth. “Berlin Girl” could be anyone – your friend, sister, or girlfriend. There is a bubble of stomach fat hanging over her black skirt but she doesn’t seem to notice. Though she has the face of a young girl, the way she carries herself and particularly her eyes suggest that perhaps she has more life experience than she should.

Does Potash ask people for permission before she takes their picture? No.

“There is always the issue of tension when it comes to photography. But I have had conversations with some of them.”

Potash has traveled to Germany, Prague and Miami and taken shots of people at their most vulnerable. The name for the exhibit came to her while she was in Florida in 2005.

“There is so much sadness in Florida. You can feel the artificiality and melancholy behind the Miami culture,” she said. “However, the title has taken on new meaning with the inclusion of my recent work.”

She names “Mementos,” a video in the exhibit of her playing with her young son, as an example. The central message is “to appreciate every mundane moment before it disappears,” she said.

“Therefore, in the end, It’s a Good Life could be taken literally.”

Jeanette Johns, studio manager Martha Street Studio, was elated to have Potash’s photographs on display.

“I find the beautiful stills not about movement, but about a person’s demeanor—how they sit in their space,” Johns said. “It’s almost as though they are flesh mannequins.”

When asked what inspires her photography, Potash’s eyes lit up.

“Travel gives me the freedom and opportunity to step off a subway and find myself in strange places surrounded by unfamiliar people.”

Drawn to the vulnerable stages in life, Potash often finds herself photographing unusual human drama. This is why she focuses on the elderly and children.

“Both of these stages are particularly interesting due to the acute physical and emotional changes that occur,” she said. “I am interested in immortalizing spontaneous moments that reveal something unique or intimate about the reality of the subject and their lives.

“I am looking for what [French photographer Henri] Cartier-Bresson called the ‘decisive moment’— the split second that reveals the essence of the situation.”

It’s a Good Life is on display until Feb. 13. Visit www.printmakers.mb.ca.

Published in Volume 63, Number 18 of The Uniter (January 29, 2009)