Deborah Parkin

In this episode of Biblioscapes in Discussion I am joined by Deborah Parkin to talk about her books, Memory and September is the Cruellest Month.

Deborah Parkin’s use of strange-making is not limited to the three photographs I mentioned.  There is obvious strange-making in her transformations of children into angels, rabbits, and cats.  But that is only strange-making to the eye of an adult, which most of her viewers will be, but not at all to the eye of a child.  In his poem “anyone lived in a pretty how town” E. E. Cummings chronicled the loss of that innocent eye:  “down they forgot as up they grew.”  In addition to noticing the beauty and strange-making in Deborah Parkin’s work, it also helps to see her work as a child would—if we have not forgotten, if we can remember what we grew up and away from.  Seen through our youthful eyes, the world of Deborah Parkin’s art can be read as an adventure—a serious, lyrical, truthful, and deeply joyful one.

We also discussed a selection of Deborah's favourite books from her own bookshelf…

• Critical Biography… Julia Margaret Cameron

• Immediate Family… Sally Mann

• The Pillar… Stephen Gill

• Francesca Stern Woodman

• Don’t Kiss Me, The Art of… Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore

• Portraits… Ingar Krauss

You can see more of Deborah’s work on her website and find her on Instagram and Twitter.