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.
Collector Daily
Sara J. Winston
Like its predecessor, this new volume is deeply intimate, tender, and beautiful. It welcomes the reader into a world of profound observation and great reverence, focusing on quiet, complex scenes found near the artist’s home.
in stock $65.00
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FORMAT: Pbk, 9.5 x 13 in. / 88 pgs / 39 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $65.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $90 GBP £54.00 ISBN: 9788410290457 PUBLISHER: RM AVAILABLE: 2/24/2026 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In 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.
