Foreword by Billy Collins. Interview by Reese Witherspoon.
Julie Blackmon has transfixed the contemporary art world with images of her children, nieces, nephews and friends (and their children). As the oldest of nine children herself, Blackmon has always been fascinated by family life, and her photographs are crammed with children and adults, everyday objects, toys and playthings. The subjects in the distance are often as fascinating as those highlighted in the foreground, and even the figures barely visible, hidden behind doors or windows, add a sometimes sinister, always intriguing element to the scene. Following the success of the bestselling volume Domestic Variations (2009), Homegrown shows how Blackmon's style has evolved, as she continues to capture the tensions between the harmony and disarray of domestic life. Though her photographs continue to be undeniably contemporary, references to classic painting and portraiture can be detected: the influence of seventeenth-century Dutch painter Jan Steen mixes with more contemporary figures, such as Balthus, Edward Gorey, Tim Burton and Federico Fellini. Included in this new volume are 45 works made from 2009-2014, along with an introduction by renowned poet Billy Collins and an interview by the actress Reese Witherspoon.
Julie Blackmon (born 1966) is a Missouri-based photographer who has amassed many honors since beginning her career just a few years ago. Her work has appeared in such publications as The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, and can be found in the collections of the Kemper Museum of Art in Kansas City, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Portland Museum of Art in Oregon and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, among others.
"Concert 513" is reproduced from Julie Blackmon: Homegrown.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
The Wall Street Journal
The Editors
Photographer Blackmon returned to everyday family scenes for her new book, 'Homegrown,' a collection of 40 photographs from the last five years that will be released in October.
The Guardian
The Editors
The US photographer explores the harmony and disarray of everyday life in America in spooky, charming images.
TIME Lightbox
Phil Bicker
Continuing her photographic exploration of domestic life, Julie Blackmon casts her subjects in a more painterly light, creating scenes that appear both timeless and contemporary.
Christian Science Monitor
Melanie Stetson Freeman
Blackmon presents us with the timelessness of family dynamics in photos that look decades old, but are current. She makes us feel nostalgic about the past without idealizing it. She positions children in fantastical yet plausible situations. Every subject, every headless doll, is expertly placed.
FORMAT: Hbk, 11.5 x 13.5 in. / 108 pgs / 45 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $55.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $72.5 GBP £50.00 ISBN: 9781934435793 PUBLISHER: Radius Books AVAILABLE: 9/30/2014 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Radius Books. Foreword by Billy Collins. Interview by Reese Witherspoon.
Julie Blackmon has transfixed the contemporary art world with images of her children, nieces, nephews and friends (and their children). As the oldest of nine children herself, Blackmon has always been fascinated by family life, and her photographs are crammed with children and adults, everyday objects, toys and playthings. The subjects in the distance are often as fascinating as those highlighted in the foreground, and even the figures barely visible, hidden behind doors or windows, add a sometimes sinister, always intriguing element to the scene. Following the success of the bestselling volume Domestic Variations (2009), Homegrown shows how Blackmon's style has evolved, as she continues to capture the tensions between the harmony and disarray of domestic life. Though her photographs continue to be undeniably contemporary, references to classic painting and portraiture can be detected: the influence of seventeenth-century Dutch painter Jan Steen mixes with more contemporary figures, such as Balthus, Edward Gorey, Tim Burton and Federico Fellini. Included in this new volume are 45 works made from 2009-2014, along with an introduction by renowned poet Billy Collins and an interview by the actress Reese Witherspoon.
Julie Blackmon (born 1966) is a Missouri-based photographer who has amassed many honors since beginning her career just a few years ago. Her work has appeared in such publications as The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, and can be found in the collections of the Kemper Museum of Art in Kansas City, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Portland Museum of Art in Oregon and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, among others.
