Awesome (1009)

Artist Replicates Photos Of 7 Generations Of Women In Her Family And The Results Are Absolutely Stunning

I’ve always had a hard time feeling connected to really old pictures of family members of mine from generations back, specifically the women. I try to imagine what it would feel like to live in the time that they lived, what it would look like to wear the super uncomfortable clothes they wore, and how I would have styled my hair in the amazing ways they did (if I knew how to style my own hair, that is). But it’s hard picturing these things, because, from what I can tell, 2015 is pretty different from the 1800s and 1900s.

Photographer Christine McConnell not only imagined what she would look like as one her own ancestors, but she became them. McConnell created a series titled “7 Generations of American Women,” replicating portraits of her maternal blood line, dating back 200 years. So. Amazing.

McConnell told HLN her inspiration behind the project:

“As long as I can remember, there’s been this picture of my mom in that red dress hanging in the stairwell. We’ve always been told we look alike, and when I turned 32 my mom gave me the red dress from the photo (in which she was 32). After which the thought came to me that if I were to replicate the image as well as possible, would I see more similarities? When I was done I was really surprised, which motivated me to go back in time as far as I could to see what gets passed down through one line of women.”

We absolutely love this idea, and are kind of obsessed with her results. Take a look:

Great-Great-Great Grandmother, Martha (born 1821)