The Lucky One

Project Directors:Elena Rue and Alison Aucoin

Alison Aucoin's journey to adopt and parent a child from Ethiopia requires her to accept the consequences, good and bad, of the destruction of her life in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. Through this experience, she questions what it means to be a woman and a mother without being a wife. She now confronts subtle and overt racism in the South as a white mother with an African daughter. Uprooted from the place of her birth, Alison strives to develop a multi-faceted definition of "home."

While the story is poignant, the importance of this project goes far beyond sharing one family's journey. This particular story addresses many compelling contemporary issues. We are an increasingly multi-cultural country. How does a white Cajun convert to Judaism raise an African child in the South while instilling connections to all of the cultural components of her biological and adoptive backgrounds? Modern American families have left the homestead. How does a parent who feels displaced herself create a stable home for an orphaned child? The realities of "post-racial America" are complex. How does a parent protect a child from racism delivered with a smile?

Alison Aucoin's answers to these questions are neither right nor wrong. They're simply her best guess and potentially a place for the community to start some timely and interesting conversations.

Photographer Elena Rue and Alison Aucoin have been collaborating on this project since April 2007, a year and a half before they traveled together to Ethiopia for Alison to adopt her daughter Ella Edelawit. Together, they have amassed thousands of photographs and hundreds of hours of digital audio recordings. They envision a book that includes Elena's photographs, Alison's story told in her own words, and Elena's reflections on the process. In addition, they are currently developing an interactive website to accompany the book that will include photography, written word, and audio.