50 Over 50: You Don't Need Permission - Laurie Freitag's Lost Years

Laurie Freitag is working on finally creating The Lost Years book that she's self-publishing. At 50+, after many years of photographing childhood and memory through the children she cared for as a nanny, it feels like a natural gathering of everything she's been working toward.

50 Over 50: You Don't Need Permission - Laurie Freitag's Lost Years

Laurie Freitag is working on finally creating The Lost Years book that she's self-publishing. At 50+, after many years of photographing childhood and memory through the children she cared for as a nanny, it feels like a natural gathering of everything she's been working toward.

That actually feels like the right question—not in terms of "better or worse," but in terms of what she's listening to now. When she was younger, she was more concerned with how the work was received. Now she's more interested in whether it feels true. The work has gotten quieter, more patient. She trusts her instincts more and feels less urgency to explain herself, less connected to telling her story.

What's actually hard about being an artist at this point? There's less illusion now. When you're younger, you believe effort guarantees outcome. At this point, you understand how much is out of your control—and you still choose to make the work anyway. That's both sobering and strangely freeing.

Someone just turned 50 and wants to start making art—what does she tell them? You're not starting from zero. You're starting from experience.

Does she try to keep up with what matters in the art world? She's honestly more concerned with what matters to her than what's circulating in the art world at any given moment.

What do artists her age bring to the table that younger artists don't? It's less about better or worse and more about perspective. With time, you carry longer memories, more contradictions, more losses and recoveries. The work naturally holds more layers because the life has had more layers.

What is she working on next? Right now, The Lost Years book has all of her attention. She's self-publishing it after many years of photographing childhood and memory through the children she cared for as a nanny.

What keeps her going when everything feels impossible? There's nothing wrong with stopping and taking a break. What feels impossible today often looks different tomorrow.

What does she wish she'd known when she was younger? She didn't grow up thinking of herself as an artist. She was just responding to what was in front of her. She wishes she'd known earlier that you don't need permission to call the thing you're doing what it is.

She photographs what feels vulnerable, quiet, and in-between. Her work includes The Lost Years, a long-term series about early childhood and memory; In the Garden at Chislehurst, a botanical project; and bodies of work centered on the LA River and Lunar Sanctuaries. Across all of it, she's interested in time, presence, and the emotional life of ordinary spaces.

Laurie Freitag is a Los Angeles–based photographer whose work explores childhood, memory, time, and the emotional life of quiet spaces. The Lost Years examines early childhood and memory through the children she cared for as a nanny, focusing on the years we live before we can consciously remember.

A selection of her work, including images from The Lost Years, is represented by Duncan Miller Gallery in Los Angeles, and In the Garden at Chislehurst is represented exclusively by The Susan Spiritus Gallery.

Freitag is a recipient of the Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers and was named to Photolucida's Critical Mass Top 200. She has also been listed in the Top 100 of YourDailyPhotograph, with multiple works placed in private collections.

At 50+, the work has gotten quieter, more patient. She trusts her instincts more and feels less urgency to explain herself. When she was younger, she was more concerned with how the work was received. Now she's more interested in whether it feels true.

There's less illusion now. You understand how much is out of your control—and you still choose to make the work anyway. That's both sobering and strangely freeing.

You don't need permission to call the thing you're doing what it is.

You're not starting from zero. You're starting from experience.

Connect with Laurie: Website: lauriefreitag.com Instagram: @lauriefreitagphotography