Blending analogue and digital, the #LetterProject looks at family bonds, expectations and self-esteem.
A letter from 1957 – handwritten by a 22-year-old woman to her unborn daughter – reveals a secret. Participants are invited to record and share a message to their 22-year-old self, awakening and embodying their present-day values and intentions.
The writer was my mother. To my daughter when she wonders is a story of doing what you desire versus what you think others expect of you and what it is to be alive in an analogue turned digital world.
"I wonder, and will do so when you are my age and when your daughter is my age - I'll wonder 'what if...'"
Excerpt from the letter "To my daughter...when she wonders," August 19, 1957
This year long project takes its title from an envelope I found in my parents home in 1998. Among the keepsakes was a wedding album filled with invitations, matchbook covers, receipts and shopping lists from 1957.
Write Your Letter
I invite you to record and share a message to your 22-year-old self. The data I collect will eventually be visualized anonymously and shared on this site.
NOTES FROM #LETTERPROJECT
#itsabouttime
#letterproject
susan sawyers
Susan Sawyers is a multimedia storyteller. This project involves unraveling a letter from 1957 and family secrets in an analogue turned digital world.
When Sally (age 22) met Sophie (age 22). Susan (not 22) is in between.
When Sophie met Gloria Steinem at the New York Women's Foundation breakfast, May 8, 2014. Go Girls. PS. Sam, my son, also met Gloria one day when we crossed paths on Lexington Avenue. Go Boys and Girls.