The Brown Sisters, Wellfleet, Massachusetts 2015

Nicholas Nixon's "The Brown Sisters, Wellfleet, Massachusetts" is part of an ongoing series started in 1975, using an 8x10 view camera. Each year Nixon photographs his wife, Bebe, and her three sisters, in the same order. What begins as a family portrait, becomes an emotionally resonant exploration of time, aging, and the enduring bonds of sisterhood. Nixon’s consistent approach—same camera, same poses, same subjects—creates a poignant study in change. The annual ritual transforms these women from individual figures into collective representations of womanhood, their faces etched with the marks of passing years. The black and white medium strips away the distractions of color, inviting us to contemplate deeper truths about mortality and the relentless march of time. As Nixon himself said, "The sameness of the pictures strengthens the differences." "The Brown Sisters" invites us to reflect on our own relationships, the passage of time, and the beauty inherent in the human condition.