I just disappeared an hour of my studio day in a bookstore looking over, mother, the new book by Elinor Carucci. Documenting the first 9 years of her motherhood. I forgot all about her work though I have seen her work many times in the past. She turns her lens onto herself and the intimacy and relationships in her life. The book is beautiful the images lovely and often searing.
As a devout Sally Mann fan I do wish for something else - these images lack something compared to Mann's immediate family. They have a little more grandiosity and the lighting is often dramatic, which is Carucci's style. Her works often feel like paintings in their composition color and light which I am sure many love...
For me though I loved the book and project but I also left it wanting something more. I must say it was utterly compelling to watch the growth and personality of her twins children develop via the photographs- you can tell so much about them via their eyes.
I am so glad to be reminded of her work as I myself am regularly picking up my camera again and also have been looking a lot of Mann's work.
The book just came out so look for it in bookstores and take some time with it or if you are in nyc you have a few short weeks to see the prints in person here.
from an earlier series
Normally I would feel terribly bad about wasting an hour in a bookstore instead of being in my studio but it felt marvelously wonderful and decadent and I left feeling invigorated and inspired and confirmed in the direction my work and practice is taking. Sometime you just have to let yourself let go of all your own rules and discipline.
See my praise and writing on sally mann here
and an article on Carucci's book here.
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