An intimate reflection on loss, mourning and memory, made manifest through Manenti's spectral black-and-white photography
Upon receiving a large-format camera in 2012, the American photographer Ruth Lauer Manenti (born 1968) at last accessed a poetic sensibility she had first sought within drawing and painting. Her spectral photographs evoke the ephemeral motion of life and the vertiginous memories it impresses. In her new series, 4 Sides of The Table, made from 2022 to 2024, Manenti continues her meditation upon time's passage. The inciting image for this series emerged from an intimate, sorrowful scene: her mother's best friend, June, reading poetry as Manenti's mother lay dying in bed. In the wake of loss, Manenti found within June a maternal replacement. She began photographing June in segmented parts from various angles: hands, legs, front, back, partial views. When June's own daughter unexpectedly died, Manenti, too, became a replacement. Together, Manenti and June document the poignant work of mourning—the effort to preserve the unseen through new material forms.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
PhotoBook Journal
Ryan Arnold
4 Sides of the Table' is a subtle book, filled with humble and beautiful photographs with tremendous depth—I like to compare her work to Zen poetry, quiet but endless.
STATUS: Out of stock
Temporarily out of stock pending additional inventory.
FORMAT: Pbk, 9.5 x 13 in. / 88 pgs / 39 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $65.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $98 GBP £54.00 ISBN: 9788410290457 PUBLISHER: RM AVAILABLE: 2/24/2026 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: Out of stock TERRITORY: NA UK incl IE
An intimate reflection on loss, mourning and memory, made manifest through Manenti's spectral black-and-white photography
Upon receiving a large-format camera in 2012, the American photographer Ruth Lauer Manenti (born 1968) at last accessed a poetic sensibility she had first sought within drawing and painting. Her spectral photographs evoke the ephemeral motion of life and the vertiginous memories it impresses. In her new series, 4 Sides of The Table, made from 2022 to 2024, Manenti continues her meditation upon time's passage. The inciting image for this series emerged from an intimate, sorrowful scene: her mother's best friend, June, reading poetry as Manenti's mother lay dying in bed. In the wake of loss, Manenti found within June a maternal replacement. She began photographing June in segmented parts from various angles: hands, legs, front, back, partial views. When June's own daughter unexpectedly died, Manenti, too, became a replacement. Together, Manenti and June document the poignant work of mourning—the effort to preserve the unseen through new material forms.
