The first chapter of this project began the summer of 2006 with my daughter and her group of ‘Chinese sisters’ that we met on her adoption trip in 2002. The girls were five and six years old, and would be starting school in the fall. As I focused my camera on each of their solemn little faces we talked about their summer activities, pets, and favorite movie characters.  It was a tie between the princesses and the princess-warriors. I was struck by what strong individuals they already were, and was excited to see who they would become. The images from these first shoots resulted in the exhibition, Similitudes; the Girls of Group K, shown in conjunction with the Three Gorges exhibition at the Minnesota Center for Photography.

I invited them back to my studio in 2020. As I set up for my camera, our topics of discussion mostly centered on high school graduation, college choices and their hopes and plans for the future. Gazing at each of their faces on the ground glass once again, it felt as if time had both flown by and stood completely still since our last sessions. Those little girls who so loved their princess warriors were now becoming them, each with her own singular path. This second series of portraits is my record of them at this time. Barbra Nei 2021