About Jennifer Mutz

Although the archetypal mother can think of no other more beautiful subject than her own child, in Jennifer Mutz's case, she couldn't have been more right. It was a beautiful summer day when her 3-year-old daughter was sitting in the sun in her mother's hat, innocently enjoying the summer heat. "When I looked at her wearing my hat, I saw a picture in front of me," said Mutz. In particular, she liked the way the light filtered through the hat onto her child's face.

Click on photo for larger image.

Mutz, ironically, was in the midst of a basic photography class through the Palo Alto Arts Center. The picture was her first shot taken with a 35mm camera, and appeared on her first roll of black and white film. Mutz's interest in portrait photography, or social photography, was mostly motivated by the search for the story behind the photograph.

"The life, where you came from, and in social photography, what's the story the photographer is trying to tell about a particular social movement," she said.
Although Mutz was deeply interested in these photographs, she had never picked up a camera until that summer.

A graduate of Stanford, Mutz was involved in high-tech marketing until she stopped working to become a full-time mother. She has been living in Palo Alto for the last eight years.

-- Miriam Boon