Permissions / Emma Hardy
The photographs in the book show moments of recognisable domesticity interspersed with more idyllic scenes. The images evidence Hardy’s attempts to balance her creative professional life with motherhood— watching her children grow and change alongside a maturing relationship with her own mother. The book is divided into chapters, each announced by a large-format still life of home-grown flowers, made as a farewell during the last spring spent in the family’s house. As the book progresses, Hardy’s children grow increasingly independent and begin to venture away and out of frame. The project drew to a natural conclusion as the family moved away from their home.
'The world brings colours to the child and the child organises them, cuts them into shapes, learns the names of the shapes, speaks them for the first time. Animals, fruits, leaves, water... Of course, most of these colours and shapes are brought not by the world, abstract and indistinct, but by the mother... Understanding the presence of the mother in the mind of the child is not unlike looking at a family album: one person, the photographer, usually absent, and yet integral not only to the production of the photograph, but also to the scene - to the life - itself.' - Alice Zoo, from the book’s essay.
Published November 2022 by GOST Books
Essay by Alice Zoo
245 x 306 mm portrait format
160 pages, 80 images
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-910401-78-1
The photographs in the book show moments of recognisable domesticity interspersed with more idyllic scenes. The images evidence Hardy’s attempts to balance her creative professional life with motherhood— watching her children grow and change alongside a maturing relationship with her own mother. The book is divided into chapters, each announced by a large-format still life of home-grown flowers, made as a farewell during the last spring spent in the family’s house. As the book progresses, Hardy’s children grow increasingly independent and begin to venture away and out of frame. The project drew to a natural conclusion as the family moved away from their home.
'The world brings colours to the child and the child organises them, cuts them into shapes, learns the names of the shapes, speaks them for the first time. Animals, fruits, leaves, water... Of course, most of these colours and shapes are brought not by the world, abstract and indistinct, but by the mother... Understanding the presence of the mother in the mind of the child is not unlike looking at a family album: one person, the photographer, usually absent, and yet integral not only to the production of the photograph, but also to the scene - to the life - itself.' - Alice Zoo, from the book’s essay.
Published November 2022 by GOST Books
Essay by Alice Zoo
245 x 306 mm portrait format
160 pages, 80 images
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-910401-78-1
The photographs in the book show moments of recognisable domesticity interspersed with more idyllic scenes. The images evidence Hardy’s attempts to balance her creative professional life with motherhood— watching her children grow and change alongside a maturing relationship with her own mother. The book is divided into chapters, each announced by a large-format still life of home-grown flowers, made as a farewell during the last spring spent in the family’s house. As the book progresses, Hardy’s children grow increasingly independent and begin to venture away and out of frame. The project drew to a natural conclusion as the family moved away from their home.
'The world brings colours to the child and the child organises them, cuts them into shapes, learns the names of the shapes, speaks them for the first time. Animals, fruits, leaves, water... Of course, most of these colours and shapes are brought not by the world, abstract and indistinct, but by the mother... Understanding the presence of the mother in the mind of the child is not unlike looking at a family album: one person, the photographer, usually absent, and yet integral not only to the production of the photograph, but also to the scene - to the life - itself.' - Alice Zoo, from the book’s essay.
Published November 2022 by GOST Books
Essay by Alice Zoo
245 x 306 mm portrait format
160 pages, 80 images
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-910401-78-1