Wanda and Daughters explores relationships, intimacy, and everyday Black life. In the photo, Lawson spotted Wanda and her daughters getting off the subway in her Brooklyn neighborhood and was first attracted to the little girls' barrettes. Lawson recognized the family's dress and style as an expression of Wanda's creativity and contemporary Black aesthetics. In framing Black people and everyday Black life as her central subject, Lawson's art shows a complex and multifaceted vision of Black identity. Her subjects are portrayed as what Lawson calls "creative, godlike beings" who do not "know how miraculous we are." 

Source: DMAC News Jan Feb Mar Apr 2023 

Deana Lawson's Wanda and Daughters confronts the viewers with a complex and multifaceted vision of black identity. African Americans are not portrayed as either exotic or victims, but rather as what Lawson calls "creative, godlike beings" who do not "know how miraculous we are." The subjects look directly at the viewer and, in doing so, resist objectification. As a result, the author Zadie Smith observes, Lawson's photographs speak directly to ethical issues, asking viewers to consider: "What is your relationship to these individuals? How do you see yourself seeing them? Do you acknowledge their resistance, or do you ignore it?"

News, July August September 2018, p. 12