In October 1979, Pope John Paul II came to the Boston Common. Susan Kandel was
there taking pictures of families who'd come to see him, carrying on with work
she had started months earlier photographing families at Revere Beach. Among the
people she photographed that day on the Common were two women and the five
children they'd brought with them. They told Kandel that she should come take
pictures at their homes, since they had younger kids who hadn't come that day.
She eagerly took them up on their offer. “These two families lived around the
corner from each other in Everett, Mass., and I returned to their homes many
times over the next ten years or so. And I sought out other families who might
let me come photograph them at home as well. I approached folks in grocery
stores and bowling alleys, Woolworth's and corner stores, telling them that I'd
give them some pictures in exchange for allowing me to come photograph them at
home. Although I got a lot of quick refusals and looks of suspicion, I also
managed to get invited to many homes. And sometimes there were repeated
invitations.” - Susan Kandel Through her work Kandel discovered that each home
she entered was a distinct world unto itself, and each home offered up stories.
