Mum by Nancy Newberry (May 19, 2010) 
(27 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)
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Introduction by Recommending Viewer
Today’s presentation was recommended to us by photographer Natan Dvir who’s work was featured on Bite! with his series Eighteen. Natan’s words on Nancy Newberry’s project he discovered at Houston Fotofest: “I was intrigued when I first saw Nancy Newberry’s project “Mum” in which she photographs the unique Texan gift-giving ritual of the Homecoming Mum. Virtually unknown outside of Texas, a roughly 60-year-old tradition takes place on Homecoming Friday, aka Game Day. Exchanged between boyfriend and girlfriend, parent and child or friend to friend, the Homecoming Mum is an elaborate corsage, or for the boys, a garter worn on the arm. What began as a simple gift of a chrysanthemum for girls to wear to the game has evolved into an institution regarded as seriously as the game itself. Nancy’s pictures explore the self representation of young Americans wearing these uniquely decorated silk flower corsages and allow the viewer an insiders’ look at their contemporary youth culture and rituals. While many traditions often promote unification and similarity, these young people express themselves and their unique personalities through these corsages and the way they are used. Nancy’s pictures are striking not only for their formal qualities, but also for making us question our concepts of American youth.”
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Our poll "A photo essay always needs a great written story" closed. 267 people voted, 28% agrees, 72% disagrees. 233 people answered our follow-up question "Are you a photographer?" 82% indicated they are, 18% said no. Initially, negative answers to question #1 were almost 100% as was the pecentage of photographers among respondants. Then, when the level of non-photographers started to rise, the percentage of people indicating good text is always essential started to rise too. This seems to indicate that non-photographers think that adding good text to your photo essays is essential. In my opinion: if you want non-photographers to dig your work, you know what to do...
Mum documents a gift-giving ritual virtually unknown outside of Texas, the Homecoming Mum. Large and elaborate, these uniquely decorated silk flower corsages are exchanged on one day during Autumn in Texas. In documenting this tradition filled with complex systems and collective history, I am exploring the chaotic nature of self-representation, while confronting my own teenage mythology.
A roughly 60-year-old tradition takes place on Homecoming Friday, aka Game Day. Exchanged between boyfriend and girlfriend, parent and child or friend to friend, the Homecoming Mum is an elaborate corsage, or for the boys, a garter worn on the arm. What began as a simple gift of a chrysanthemum for girls to wear to the game has evolved into an institution regarded as seriously as the game itself. The Mum consists of a large silk flower decorated with long glittery ribbons, bells, stuffed animals and other trinkets, which indicate the wearer’s interests, social standing, and allegiances to loved ones and friends. Homecoming mums are proudly worn for all activities on Homecoming Friday, and then immortalized as trophies on bedroom walls all over Texas. Each year the collection grows with a more elaborate Mum, marking progress and personal history. As both adornment and insignia, the Mum offers its wearer the opportunity to promote self-image, while identifying their status as an integral member of their particular community. At a time when many American high schoolers may seem actively disengaged from the world around them, the Homecoming Mum constitutes both a unique act of cultural immersion, and a specific brand of folk art, full of complex systems of encoded symbology.
I grew up in a Catholic family with a rich military history, fascinated by adornment, insignia, rank and rituals. The seeds of the Mum project were planted when I injured both my hands, and was forced into a different sort of homecoming, retreating to my childhood home in North Texas to recuperate. While trying to fill my time with something other than learning to open doors with my feet, strains of the high school marching band lured me to my alma mater’s Homecoming Game. Confronted by stands packed with cheering Mum devotees, I immediately realized an opportunity to not only reconnect with the optimism and energy of my own teenage mythology, but to deconstruct and document the Mum praxis.
The urgency to continue the Mum project derives from my fascination with the ritual trappings of collective history, and the personal fanfare that drives the bursting forth part of the cycle of escape and return.
Nancy Newberry () lives and works in Texas, USA.
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