A Conversation with Carol Saline and Sharon J. Wohlmuth

Ten years ago, the two of you made publishing history by co-authoring Sisters, the first photo-essay book to hold positions on the New York Times bestseller list for 63 weeks. How did that initial volume come about?

Sharon: After our mother had suffered a stroke, my younger sister, Beth, and I went back to our childhood home to care for her. Beth and I shared the most heart-wrenching days together as Mom's caregivers. It was during that difficult time that my relationship with Beth became a true partnership. I came to see her, not as my "baby" sister, but as my sister, my equal. She was really the inspiration for this book. I wanted to translate that passion I felt for my sister and our new relationship into something larger, something sisters everywhere could appreciate - a photo-essay book about sisters.

Carol: My sister and I have always had a really wonderful relationship. For my fiftieth birthday, she gave me a framed needlepoint with the words, "A Sister is a Forever Friend." When I hung it on the wall, I remember thinking, "This saying is really corny, but it is just so true." Later, when Sharon and I were together with some friends, chatting about book ideas, she said that she'd always been interested in doing a photo-essay book about sisters. That triggered for me the needlepoint inscription and I said, "Wow! Yes. A photo-essay book on sisters. I love it." We'd been kicking around the idea of collaborating on something and this came about very synergistically.

Talk about the impact that this title has had on women.

Carol: The majority of the books previous to ours that had dealt with the sister relationship were sociologically oriented. The women who bought them, for the most part, were trying to work through problems with their siblings. What our book did was to capture and celebrate the sister relationship and that's what struck the chord with women. Where the other books were aiming for their minds, this book grabbed their hearts.

Sharon: People bought the book in multiples to give not only to their sisters, but also to friends, to mothers, to daughters. We knew from the unprecedented sales of the book, the thank you letters, and the overwhelming response at book signings that women were hungry to discover what other sisters were like and how they had managed. Because not all of the essays in Sisters are about wonderful relationships, there are all kinds of issues addressed. As people look at the photographs and read the essays, they are relating to a "quilt" that we have created of all sisters; a quilt woven and textured with images and essays that reflect all of us.

Carol: There was an immediacy to Sisters that stemmed from the unique combination of the photos and the essays, which had a very strong dual impact. Neither alone would ever have been as powerful.

What was the inspiration for a tenth anniversary edition of Sisters?

Sharon: Over the past decade, I had stayed in touch with a few of the sisters from our initial book and was intrigued by the changes that ten years had brought. We know that marriages end, friendships come and go, and children leave the nest, but the sister relationship is such a uniquely enduring one that Carol and I wanted to explore that bond and why it remains so strong.

Carol: The passage of time has a powerful impact on all relationships. Sharon and I were particularly interested in seeing what it meant for sisters. As sisters grow older, how does their relationship evolve and change for the better or worse?

Sharon: This 10th anniversary edition is a tribute to the triumphant way in which sisters rise to the challenges of life and journey through it together.

Carol: And what it means to have a sister as you deal with the ups and downs that life delivers.

What reaction did you get when you contacted the different sisters about revisiting them for this volume?

Carol: You can't imagine. Every time the door opened, there was such hugging and kissing. It was so poignant; wonderful for sisters as well as us. We had so much fun. It was like going back to your high school reunion and connecting with old friends.

Sharon: People were thrilled! They were so touched that we wanted to do an update and couldn't wait to tell us about what had happened in their lives.

As you said, ten years can have a dramatic impact on any relationship, especially that of sisters. What are some of the overarching themes that emerge from the pages of Sisters: Tenth Anniversary Edition?

Carol: In this edition of Sisters, we deal with issues such as expectations, reconciliation, dependence, separation, illness, and loss; all the kinds of things that sisters are going to experience as they go through life. One of the stories that comes to mind is Melba Moore and her sister, Clem. At the time of the original book, Clem was planning to move to New York with the hope that if she lived nearer to Melba it would rekindle the closeness that they had shared during their childhood. When we went back to visit them, we discovered that in fact is not what had happened. Melba had experienced some terrible setbacks and, for a variety of reasons, couldn't lean on Clem to help her out. Yet the sisters did connect during some other painful times, like the death of their brother. What Clem has come to realize is that she and Melba will always be there to love and support each other and that doesn't depend on how much or little time they spend together.

Sharon: Certainly one of the stories that really affected me is that of Becky and Whitney Williams. Becky was 12-years-old when Whitney died of AIDS, at age 15. Becky speaks of the overwhelming feeling of loneliness and isolation, which is felt in her portrait. The theme of loss, especially the loss of a sibling so very young, presents Becky with so many unanswered questions. Now, ten years later, she is left with abbreviated memories of Whitney and a constant ache for her sister's companionship. As Becky says, "I just want to wake up and see Whitney." Today, she reminds other sisters not to take their relationships for granted and to treasure each other.

Carol: And there are the Glass sisters, who've been through cancer and divorce. What they said is that their relationship used to have a dynamic of wisecracking characterized by subtle - and not so subtle - joking back and forth. That's vanished now. They have a deeper relationship because they understand through all the awful things that have happened to them, they only have each other to lean on for support.

Sisters has been a perennial seller since it was first published in 1994. Sisters who were infants then are now entering adolescence, teenagers have become young adults. What do the pages of this new edition hold for them?

Sharon: I think this new edition of Sisters has a very important message for younger women. Ten years ago, some of them weren't really interested in their sister. With this book, they see how other sisters have handled various life passages and get a head start in appreciating what lies ahead with their own sister.

Carol: As our new readers join our old ones, I hope they'll begin to realize that all the petty stuff that they used to fight about as kids is insignificant. These young women will learn that as you age - and this was true, I think, of all the sisters that we revisited - you more deeply appreciate how important your sister is to you.

This new edition of Sisters provides a lens through which to view the past ten years in these sisters' lives and, in turn, reflect on what has transpired in our own lives. What has been the most significant thing that has happened to each of you during the past decade?

Sharon: I no longer measure significance by milestone events. I have begun to be more focused on the small wonders and savoring the delicious, precious moments in my life, whether it's being with my husband or my grandchild or my nephews and nieces. It's those times that I treasure.

Carol: For me, it is also a combination of events. The scare of my sister having breast cancer and how the two of us shared in our mother's caretaking in the four months before she died. That was very, very powerful. The other significant happenings were my divorce and meeting the man I'm going to marry.

Sharon, tell us something about your creative process. Do you shoot film? Digital? Why do you choose to use black and white film? How do you get your subjects to feel comfortable in front of the camera?

Sharon: I shoot film, but my creative process is not about the technical aspects of photography. Certainly, one needs to understand her tools, but the more critical issue is in the moment of capturing the image. One needs to shoot with their heart, eyes, and mind. I chose to use black and white film because it's a much more powerful way of presenting an image; its purity is dramatic. The photograph has more clarity, more depth.

You have to be respectful of the people you are photographing and gain their trust. Because of my own experience in being a sister and having a sister, when I look through the lens at other sisters there is an understanding of their spirit. Both Carol and I listen very carefully to what these women have to say, the nuances. To observe and listen is critical in capturing the one moment that reveals their relationship. It's about expression, the touch of a hand. It is about a person's spirit.

Focusing is not only a tool in the camera, but an intellectual process which enables a photographer to capture the defining moment.

Carol, tell us something about your creative process. How do you go about interviewing your subjects? How do you get them to open up emotionally to you?

Carol: My background is magazine writing, particularly medicine and health, where I'm usually focused on getting information. For this book, I was looking for stories with emotional content, which is different from your typical journalistic interview. In interviewing sisters, you don't know where you'll find the storyline. Everybody's story comes at a different time or place in their lives. So you're always going back and forth, searching: "How did that affect you with your sister? What did you fight about? How did you solve your differences? What are your favorite memories?" Usually, at one point toward the end of the interview, I would say, "Look at your sister and tell her what you admire about her, what you like about her, what about her means the most to you." People would get so choked up during these exchanges because we don't normally express such feelings. Those were very pivotal moments in the interview.

What I am trying to do is to get sisters to open up emotionally and feel comfortable telling their stories, and that requires establishing a level of trust. People have to like you and feel safe with you. It takes a lot of time and all kinds of questions. Sometimes you have to be very probing in ways that you would never be with close friends. You end up asking someone you've just met about things that you might not discuss with somebody that you've known for years. Overall, I think it's ranging in different directions until the people hit the core of what it is I'm looking for.

Talk a little about your collaborative process for Sisters.

Carol: When Sharon and I initially meet the sisters, we spend the first half hour just getting acquainted. We have a cup of coffee or a cold drink and just talk. We tell them about our sisters. We try to establish a rapport that lets them know we're just regular people there to have a conversation. It's only after a level of comfort has been established that I turn on the recorder and start asking them questions.

Sharon: My camera is just a tool with which to physically capture an image, just as Carol's computer takes her words. That's why, when we meet these women, it's very important for me to be part of the interview. Being a photojournalist is about understanding who these women are, so that when I finally do look through the lens I can translate that information into a moment - an image. So there's an intellectual process and then the physical process of capturing it on film. I think the beauty of our partnership is that we do have this incredible.

Carol: We're very in synch when we work.

Sharon: We have this unique way of being present with these people. It's like we're performing a pas de deux. We're two separate people but we're doing the same beautiful thing. If there isn't that flow in understanding then it's not going to work. Obviously the ultimate result of this is.

Carol: What you see on the page.

Any final observations on the Sisters phenomenon?

Carol: We did a book that we believed in and loved. To see what our work has meant to others has catapulted my life to another level. Sisters struck a chord in women that has reverberated back to enrich our lives in the most monumental way.

Sharon: For me, Sisters has been a true gift. It has certainly confirmed that the passion we felt for our own sisters was not unique. Women have always felt this connection. I am grateful to know that Sisters has touched the hearts of so many. It has changed my life.