Vibrant portraits of a new generation of Americans in the throes of cultural transformation
New York–based Czech photographer Marie Tomanova (born 1984) follows her 2019 book Young American with a second volume of color portraits of the noughties generation in New York City, paying particular attention to the diverse faces of America’s future and their process of vitally reshaping notions of gender, society and culture. Captivating and sincere, her diaristic work is imbued with the vitality and raw spirit of American youth. Her subjects are photographed at parties, art openings, parks and in apartments with their faces filling the majority of the image frames. They share an intimate gaze that stares directly back at the lens, framed by a variety of hair, makeup, piercings and skin tones. Tomanova grew up in the Czech Republic and since moving to the United States in 2010 she has used photography to capture her feelings of displacement and evolving sense of belonging in America. Taken together, Tomanova’s series of self-portraits and youth photography reflect her introspective look into issues of identity and isolation. As photographer Ryan McGinley writes in his introduction to Young American, “This is a future free of gender binaries and stale old definitions of beauty. In Marie’s world people can just simply be. I wish all of America’s youth culture looked like Marie’s photos of downtown, diverse and inclusive.”
Featured image is reproduced from 'Marie Tomanova: New York New York'.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
AnOther
Orla Brennan
Focuses on youth in America’s cultural epicenter, documenting the wild nights and carefree days of the city’s young people in Tomanova’s vivid, spontaneous style
V Magazine
Bella Gil
Evoking a special portrayal of Tomanova’s own journey settling in the city and finding her own way, the images in New York New York evoke that feeling of discovering oneself in the setting of a sprawling city. The book focuses on a dream or motivation, and allows you to immerse yourself in the dreams the city may hold for you.
Metal Magazine
Jackson Harvey
Striking deep into the heart of identity, the photographer showcases a city and its inhabitants in all their raw mythic glory.
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Featured photograph, titled “Makenna and Doe (Tompkins Square Park)" (2020), is reproduced from Marie Tomanova: New York New York, launching in New York with a book signing Wednesday, September 29, from 5–7 PM at Dashwood Books. In her Foreword, Kim Gordon writes, “The portraits in Marie’s book are … a picture of the promise of freedom. That’s what I felt when I first moved there in 1980. You take what you want from the city, people leave you alone. The diversity of the people in this book is a mirror of that thirst for freedom. Despite the shopping mall aspect of lower Manhattan, it still feels like a safe haven from ‘AMERICA.’ Your friends become your family, the family extension is a community that you give back to because you live there; you’re not a distant investor buying a condo you’ll never live in. Marie’s book is a celebration of that young community.” continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 10.75 x 9.75 in. / 176 pgs / 150 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $44.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $60 ISBN: 9783775750868 PUBLISHER: Hatje Cantz AVAILABLE: 9/21/2021 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA LA
Published by Hatje Cantz. Foreword by Kim Gordon. Text by Thomas Beachdel.
Vibrant portraits of a new generation of Americans in the throes of cultural transformation
New York–based Czech photographer Marie Tomanova (born 1984) follows her 2019 book Young American with a second volume of color portraits of the noughties generation in New York City, paying particular attention to the diverse faces of America’s future and their process of vitally reshaping notions of gender, society and culture. Captivating and sincere, her diaristic work is imbued with the vitality and raw spirit of American youth. Her subjects are photographed at parties, art openings, parks and in apartments with their faces filling the majority of the image frames. They share an intimate gaze that stares directly back at the lens, framed by a variety of hair, makeup, piercings and skin tones.
Tomanova grew up in the Czech Republic and since moving to the United States in 2010 she has used photography to capture her feelings of displacement and evolving sense of belonging in America. Taken together, Tomanova’s series of self-portraits and youth photography reflect her introspective look into issues of identity and isolation.
As photographer Ryan McGinley writes in his introduction to Young American, “This is a future free of gender binaries and stale old definitions of beauty. In Marie’s world people can just simply be. I wish all of America’s youth culture looked like Marie’s photos of downtown, diverse and inclusive.”
