“Look at those vulgar women in their fancy fur coats,” one of Gillian Laub’s photography classmates sneered during a smoke break. Laub nodded in agreement, that is, until the group excitedly rushed toward her. It was her mother, her grandmother, and her Aunt Phyllis with their Wednesday art appreciation group, thrilled at the chance encounter.
Laub recalls the moment in the audio section of Family Matters, now on view at the International Center of Photography (ICP) through January 10, that combines audio, text, and twenty years of family photographs. The moment encapsulates Laub’s simultaneous deep affection for her family and her discomfort with their excessive displays of wealth, and later, her confusion and anger when they become Trump supporters.
