Model American

by Katy Grannan (Photographer), Jan Avgikos

Working with ordinary people who answered ads in local papers, posing them in their nondescript homes or unexceptional landscapes and using relatively simple equipment, Katy Grannan alchemizes these factors into extraordinary photographs. Disarming for their directness and for the provocative but casual nudity on display, her pictures capture the spirit of her subjects in the manner of Diane Arbus, but they also draw upon the artificial, posed tableaux of Gregory Crewdson and, indeed, art history. The posture of the tattooed and tanned (and nude) figure in "Mike," a 2003 portrait which appeared in the 2004 Whitney Biennial, resembles nothing so much as the awkward repose of the desert nomad in Henri Rousseau's "Sleeping Gypsy." In this first monograph, over half of the photographs are previously unpublished, providing a fresh depth to our understanding of this already widely known and accomplished young artist. Sitting on a dirt road in a knit bikini, standing defiantly in a corner of a cheaply paneled living room, leaning languidly against a chain-link fence, Grannan's photoraphs convey the dark side that we all have as well as the need to be recognized as unique individuals.

Genres: Photography

Hardcover

First published September 15, 2005

Reviews

[Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Features a collection of B/W and color images of men and women in various stage of undress.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - what a collection of photos. These images of young women and men with their yearning and sexual intimacy is haunting, and reminds me of Diane Arbus's best work.

[Jim Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disturbing, riveting portraits. Her work really took a giant leap after this book, but here one sees a master photographer defining her esthetic and her territory.