Deborah Turbeville: Photocollage

Deborah Turbeville is an American photographer whose retrospective monograph explores her innovative use of photocollage in fashion photography. Her images are evocative, difficult to date, and dreamlike, and she defies classification. This book showcases her genius as an artist, with many images published for the first time, and includes texts by Vince Aletti, Anna Tellgren, and Felix Hoffmann.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 12 October 2023
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd

American photographer Deborah Turbeville is a true visionary whose groundbreaking female gaze revolutionized fashion photography. Her unique visual signature has been instantly recognizable since her emergence as a major talent in the 1970s. Turbeville's images are hauntingly beautiful, evoking a sense of dreamlike wonder that transcends the boundaries of our contemporary world.

What sets Turbeville apart from her male contemporaries is her distinct representation of beauty. Her photographs of women are far from the hard-edged, highly sexualized images that were prevalent in her time. Instead, Turbeville offers a different perspective on femininity, one that is playful, imaginative, and defies convention.

This book, titled Deborah Turbeville: Photocollage, delves into the realm where Turbeville's artistic genius truly shines. It focuses on her use of photocollage, a technique that she deliberately employed to create playful and narrative sequences. Unlike her contemporaries in fashion photography, Turbeville was not afraid to experiment with her images, xeroxing, cutting, scraping, and pinning prints together. She wrote in the margins, adding layers of meaning and depth to her work.

Turbeville's photographs are not confined to single, glossy images. Instead, they exist in a liminal zone between art and commerce, blurring the lines between the two. Her work challenges the traditional boundaries of fashion photography, moving away from the sexual provocation and stereotypes assigned by male photographers. Instead, Turbeville offers an idea of femininity on her terms, one that is multifaceted, complex, and deeply personal.

This book is a testament to Turbeville's enduring influence on fashion photography. Built upon extensive research in the Deborah Turbeville archive, it showcases a wide range of commercial and personal projects, many of which have been published for the first time. With insightful texts by Vince Aletti, Anna Tellgren, and Felix Hoffmann, the book sheds light on the ways in which Turbeville redefined fashion photography, moving away from the male gaze and towards a more inclusive and diverse representation of beauty.

Deborah Turbeville: Photocollage will be an essential publication for anyone with a passion for fashion photography. It serves as a reminder of the power of visual storytelling and the ability of an artist to challenge societal norms and expectations. Turbeville's work continues to inspire and influence generations of photographers, and this retrospective monograph is a fitting tribute to her remarkable legacy.

Weight: 1898g
Dimension: 264 x 311 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780500026212