This series is about empowering the American mother and influencing them to park their SUVs, get out of their Lululemon’s, leave the kids with someone they trust and imagine themselves as superstar pop culture icons.
Sue is heavily influenced by experiences from her childhood. Her parents relocated in the early 60’s to the cultural wasteland of suburbia, but her mother, a New York fashionista, made sure her only daughter was well acquainted with all the newest trends. Both mother and daughter shared a passion for the arts and bonded on their trips to see matinees at the local movie theater, watching the stylized television variety shows and playing the latest Rock’ N’ Roll hits on the radio. Joni Mitchell, Laugh In, Foxy Brown, and Belle de Jour are a few of her inspirations for this body of work. Although Sue looks toward the future, she will forever be inspired by the creative influences from her past
Get Sue Barr’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
This project has been a creative outlet for Sue who, after years of working in fashion and living the life of a downtown New York City diva, ended up in the burbs to raise her son. She was dumbfounded to meet so many accomplished beautiful women wearing yoga pants and looking haggard at school pick up. She realized she could take the glamour and attitude of vintage Hollywood and Rock’ N’ Roll and transform a typical suburban mom into a doppelgänger icon.
This is a creative departure from Sue’s award winning lifestyle photography. The only similarity is that the subjects that you see in these images are all real. None are professional models. They are just your average everyday stressed momma metamorphosed by Sue into a pop culture icon. Sue believes that no matter what your daily grind is, everyone should have an opportunity to be photographed as a superstar. That’s Sue’s version of living in Suburban Bliss.
