BOOK FORMAT Hardcover, 8.5 x 10.5 in. / 176 pgs / 150 color / 20 bw.
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 11/30/2013 Active
DISTRIBUTION D.A.P. Exclusive Catalog: FALL 2013 p. 107
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9781908970107TRADE List Price: $34.95 CAD $45.95
AVAILABILITY Out of stock
TERRITORY NA ONLY
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
London, England Photographers' Gallery and Foundling Museum, 10/11/13-01/05/14
Chicago, IL Museum of Contemporary Photography, 04/14-06/14
"Every aspect of mothering is now out in the open. She is present on blogs, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and fodder for celebrity culture where once she was kept hidden." -Susan Bright, excerpted from The Maternal Return
Edited by Susan Bright. Text by Susan Bright, Stephanie Chapman, Nick Johnstone, Simon Watney.
Published to accompany a highly anticipated traveling exhibition, Home Truths examines contemporary interpretations of one of the most enduring subjects in the history of picture-making: the image of the mother. Focusing on the work of 12 international photographers, it challenges the stereotypical or sentimental views of motherhood handed down by traditional depictions, and explores how photography can be used to address changing conditions of power, gender, domesticity, the maternal body and female identity. The work featured here is highly personal, often documentary in approach and with the individual at its center. The featured artists--among them Janine Antoni, Elina Brotherus, Elinor Carucci, Ana Casas Broda, Tierney Gearon, Fred Hüning, Leigh Ledare, Miyako Ishiuchi, Ann Fessler, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Katie Murray and Hanna Putz--offer very different views of contemporary motherhood, from the devoted to the dysfunctional. The book’s essays explore the historical and contemporary context of the mother figure, illustrated with dozens of comparative images from antiquity to the present day. Curator and editor Susan Bright traces the history of photographs of motherhood from the nineteenth century to the present; Simon Watney discusses the Madonna; Nick Johnstone looks at the presentation of the mother from the perspective of the father; Stephanie Chapman explores issues of motherhood and loss as expressed through photography.
Featured image is reproduced from Home Truths: Photography and Motherhood.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
ArtbookPublishing.co.uk
[T]his beautiful and striking book examines contemporary interpretations of one of the most enduring subjects in the history of picture-making: the image of the mother. Focusing on the work of twelve international photographic artists, the publication challenges the stereotypical or sentimental views of motherhood handed down by traditional depictions, and explores how photography can be used to address changing conditions of power, gender, domesticity, the maternal body, and female identity.
The Guardian
Sean O'Hagan
female photographers... brutally depict the emotional and physical strain of motherhood.
The Guardian
Susan Bright
Breastfeeding is not represented in popular culture, yet women are shamed if they do not do it, says Susan Bright.
Standard.co.uk
Sue Steward
Housed in two galleries, this exhibition focuses on the themes of loss, identity and motherhood, featuring the works of various artists and photographers. The overall effect not only exposes home truths, it also suggests intriguing fantasy in the maternal links.
Contemporary photography magazine online
Eti Wade
Bringing together these and other works under the umbrella of 'motherhood and identity' is in itself an important milestone, part of a post-feminist paradigmatic shift, and credit must be given to the show's curator, Susan Bright, and by natural extension, The Photographers' Gallery. Making explicit what it means to walk through the threshold and become a mother, Home Truths can be said to form part of a global process of change and, in the process, joins the confluence of the many small movements forming and developing, challenging and drawing attention to themselves and joining up to form a maternal voice.
Time Lightbox
Susan Bright
As with all large projects, the inspiration for Home Truths: Photography and Motherhood came from myriad places, some of which can be hard to trace. But most obviously it was the plethora of 'celebrity mom' magazine covers that were appearing at a time of my own pregnancy and a move to the United States from London. The cultural differences toward parenting led me to look more closely at representations of motherhood and examine what was going on across both fine art and the media. This curiosity and exploration has led to an exhibition and book featuring artists and photographers who investigate the concept of the mother figure, responding or reacting to the legacy of the Madonna; the idealized mother; and established myths and stereotypes of motherhood so readily trotted out in the media.
American Photo
Jack Crager
Editor Bright sets out to explore an 'alternative history of the mother in photography', she writes, 'one that is not dominated by...the male gaze.' The imagery by a multitude of photographers - from nude mother-and-child candids to vernacular photos - turns conventional notions of motherhood on their head, or at least inside out.
STATUS: Out of stock
Temporarily out of stock pending additional inventory.
Featured image, "Untitled (Groh 3)," 2012, by Hannah Putz, is reproduced from Home Truths: Photography and Motherhood, the catalogto curator Susan Bright's challenging traveling exhibition currently on view at the Photographers' Gallery, London. Bright writes, "the mothers represented here are resolutely subject rather than object. They are neither idealized nor marginalized. The work in this book is at times subtle, at times bold. Highly subjective, it can also be contradictory. It displays a sense of seriousness and intense reflection, often with a haunting quality. It has the ability to move, but also to question and disrupt assumptions about power, gender, domesticity and the body without being judgmental. Like photography itself, the expectations and demands of motherhood are in flux; both subject and medium grapple for new meaning in a changing world. My hope is that the work featured here will open up debates about the continued representation and place of the mother figure, while raising questions about the identity and display of photography at this pivotal moment in which we find ourselves—at a crossroads between the singular photographic object and the sprawling networked image." Bright will sign copies of the book Friday, November 15 at the International Center of Photography, New York. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 8.5 x 10.5 in. / 176 pgs / 150 color / 20 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $34.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $45.95 ISBN: 9781908970107 PUBLISHER: Art / Books/Photographers’ Gallery, London AVAILABLE: 11/30/2013 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: Out of stock TERRITORY: NA ONLY
Published by Art / Books/Photographers’ Gallery, London. Edited by Susan Bright. Text by Susan Bright, Stephanie Chapman, Nick Johnstone, Simon Watney.
Published to accompany a highly anticipated traveling exhibition, Home Truths examines contemporary interpretations of one of the most enduring subjects in the history of picture-making: the image of the mother. Focusing on the work of 12 international photographers, it challenges the stereotypical or sentimental views of motherhood handed down by traditional depictions, and explores how photography can be used to address changing conditions of power, gender, domesticity, the maternal body and female identity. The work featured here is highly personal, often documentary in approach and with the individual at its center. The featured artists--among them Janine Antoni, Elina Brotherus, Elinor Carucci, Ana Casas Broda, Tierney Gearon, Fred Hüning, Leigh Ledare, Miyako Ishiuchi, Ann Fessler, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Katie Murray and Hanna Putz--offer very different views of contemporary motherhood, from the devoted to the dysfunctional. The book’s essays explore the historical and contemporary context of the mother figure, illustrated with dozens of comparative images from antiquity to the present day. Curator and editor Susan Bright traces the history of photographs of motherhood from the nineteenth century to the present; Simon Watney discusses the Madonna; Nick Johnstone looks at the presentation of the mother from the perspective of the father; Stephanie Chapman explores issues of motherhood and loss as expressed through photography.
