I want to sense the warmth of her heart anew, like in my childhood; to look closer and get to know my present, mature mother. To fixate, to remember, to feel acutely the moments of the life that I treasure, which is primordially a source of my own. Wise and not so wise, powerful and weak, young and mature, good and bad—anything she may be. My mom. Distant no more. Close…again.
—Alla Mirovskaya

Driven by an inner motivation to comprehend her family reality, Russian photographer Alla Mirovskaya explores the complex relationship between mother and daughter in Distant and Close, a series that reads just like it sounds. She weaves together an intimate narrative through nostalgic, light-soaked images that explore identity, personality and kinship. Mirovskaya spent a year working on the project, navigating the waters of the familial great divide and connection—a documentary process she says prompted a rediscovery of her own worldview.