Suzanne Heintz and her fake family at Yellowstone National Park, 2010
copyright Suzanne Heintz

“The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own.”

– Susan Sontag

Once you have pounded the streets of Paris with 100 pound of mannequins on your shoulders, and set up Kodak picture perfect moments in America’s favorite national parkland – well, anything goes!  As summer draws to a close, Heintz is on the road again. She will be popping up in London this week with at least one member of her fake family.

If you happen to spot  Suzanne striking a pose in London send us your own video memories – we may include them in the film! Stand by for updates on Suzanne’s whereabouts!

Heintz’s surreal photo shoots are like plot points on our documentary map. The journey we are taking the audience on is rooted in our fascination with Heintz’s playful exploration of image versus reality. Venturing behind the scenes of Heintz’s parody on mid 20th Century idealised portraits of family life,  and the wardrobe she uses to convey this,  is just one layer we are peeling back. As we follow the project’s viral reach, and the impact Heintz hopes for with her art activism, we are also dusting off our own memories. Maybe it is a blurred image from our own childhood holiday,  or family gathering, as remembered from family slides and home movies. We are traveling back and forth in time with these images of perfection and wondering where they will take us next.