Deanna Dikeman’s Relative Moments Explores the Extraordinary Meaning of Everyday Family Life
Deanna Dikeman, Leaving and waving, 7/1991 from the series Relative Moments, July 1991; Courtesy of the artist.
Some photographs document history. Others document the moments we don’t realize we’ll miss until they’re gone.
Whether it’s washing dishes together, tending a garden, sharing dessert around the kitchen table, or waving goodbye at the end of a visit, photographer Deanna Dikeman reveals how the smallest rituals often become the stories that shape a family.
Relative Moments, our new traveling photography exhibition, invites visitors to slow down and experience three decades of family life through the lens of acclaimed photographer Deanna Dikeman. Featuring more than 100 photographs, the exhibition transforms everyday routines into an intimate meditation on love, memory, caregiving, and the passage of time.
For museums, galleries, libraries, and cultural organizations seeking a traveling photography exhibition that fosters meaningful conversations across generations, Relative Moments offers an experience that is both deeply personal and universally recognizable.
Invite Your Visitors to See the Moments That Connect Us
Unlike documentary photography focused on major events, Dikeman turns her attention toward the quiet moments that often go unnoticed.
Over more than 30 years, she photographed her parents, her son, and members of her extended Midwestern family, creating a visual record that unfolds gradually through seasons, celebrations, ordinary chores, and everyday acts of care. Rather than dramatic moments, the photographs ask viewers to appreciate the beauty found in familiar routines.
That emotional accessibility makes Relative Moments especially powerful in a museum setting. Visitors frequently recognize pieces of their own lives in the images—a familiar kitchen, a holiday tradition, a parent’s posture, or the simple ritual of saying goodbye.
The Acclaimed Series That Continues to Resonate
Throughout the exhibition is Dikeman’s acclaimed Leaving and Waving series, a body of work that has resonated with audiences around the world.
For nearly three decades, every time she left her parents’ home, she photographed them standing in the driveway, waving goodbye.
Seen individually, each image feels ordinary. Seen together, they become an extraordinary record of time.
As years pass, expressions soften, children grow, circumstances change, and eventually only one parent remains to wave farewell. Together, the photographs become one of contemporary photography’s most moving reflections on aging, continuity, and loss.
“For years, Dikeman captured those departing moments; the resulting portrait series, Leaving and Waving, compresses nearly three decades of adieux into a deft and affecting chronology.”
–Eren Orbey, The New Yorker, March 4, 2020
Why Host Relative Moments?
Because the exhibition centers on shared human experiences, it naturally supports programming across disciplines, including:
- Artist talks and photography workshops
- Intergenerational storytelling events
- Community memory projects
- Programs exploring aging, caregiving, and family history
- Discussions around visual storytelling and documentary photography
- Its intimate scale encourages close looking while creating space for visitors to reflect on their own relationships and memories.
The exhibition is especially well suited for museums, university galleries, libraries, and cultural centers seeking exhibitions that foster conversation and community engagement.
Designed for Easy Touring
Like all Exhibits USA® traveling exhibitions, Relative Moments arrives ready for installation with the materials host venues need to create a successful presentation.
The exhibition includes more than 100 photographs, interpretive text panels, gallery guides, programming resources, installation instructions, custom-built crates, and full insurance coverage during transit and display. Designed for flexible installation, it adapts to a variety of gallery spaces and institutional settings.
Now Booking Through Exhibits USA
If you’re planning future exhibitions and looking for a traveling photography exhibition that resonates with audiences long after they leave the gallery, Relative Moments offers an unforgettable experience grounded in the moments we all recognize—but rarely stop to appreciate.
Explore the exhibition page to view images, specifications, and booking information.
View the full gallery and see the exhibition’s tour schedule.
Installation view of Relative Moments at Aurora PhotoCenter Main Gallery, Indianapolis, Indiana, December 5, 2025–January 23, 2026; Image courtesy of Aurora PhotoCenter.
Installation view of Relative Moments at Aurora PhotoCenter Main Gallery, Indianapolis, Indiana, December 5, 2025–January 23, 2026; Image courtesy of Aurora PhotoCenter.
