SARAH MALAKOFF

Sarah Malakoff

Second Nature

Hardback
80 pages
First Edition
Published by Charta
2013

About the Book:

My photographs are a collection of private spaces that ask the viewer to imagine the people who inhabit them. We see both the unique ways we live behind closed doors, as well as the universal impulse to control our environment. In my images, the home is seen as both a refuge from and at times a re-creation of the outside world. For example, doors and windows can both frame exterior views and serve to keep the elements at bay. Landscape, weather, and wildlife lurk outside the walls even as they are brought safely inside in the form of pattern, simulation, and domesticated animals. Tensions and humor appear between absence and presence, genuine and artificial, the domestic and the natural worlds.

Book review by Dana Stirling |

I met Sarah at Photo Filter a while back when I had the pleasure of reviewing her work. I was imminently drawn to her images and her project Second Nature. As a still life photographer myself I always get captivated by how different artists capture the life around us and the stillness of our modern environment. In her images, Sarah documents private spaces that we usually do not have access to as they are, well, private. We all have a curiosity of how other people live, do they like the same things as us? Do they live a batter life? Our need to be accepted by our peers usually means we get curious and jealous of other’s. This project allows us to have a small peek into people’s homes and examine every small detail in them – compare them, learn from them, get inspired.

I think an interesting aspect of looking at this book, is the thought of before and after the photograph has happed. In the image, the spaces are in their “best” condition, they seem tidy, neat, clean – people have put their best foot forward for the photo. Just like a portrait, people want to showcase their best to the world, and they make sure to make it as perfect as they can for the camera. But for me, I always try and think of the moment before and after the click of the shutter. These spaces are people’s homes – so they live in them. How do they look when they are not Pristine, maybe a little messy? What do people use it for, how they use it and why. Because the images are all about the still life, we are only left to imagine the human interaction within it as it stays a mystery in the image.

We can learn a lot about someone’s life and who they are as a person by looking at their home. People curate into their life what they feel passionate about, what they like and what makes them truly happy. You home is a place you can control how it serves its purpose to you and you are able to decorate and paint it in all the things you want with no judgments. You feel safe and comfortable within those walls, and you are just a guest inside it.

You can learn a lot about taste, fashion, trends and more while looking at these images. What’s popular at the moment? Or perhaps in older places, what was popular back in their days. These living spaces are a time capsule of culture, time, style and history.

Sarah has made a book with beautifully crafted images, with strong compositions and fantastic light, these images are so well constructed that you can almost feel the texture of the fabrics and the warmth of the window light. They are intimate on the one hand but also very analytical and purposeful. All the details are well seen and are in our grasp, we are able to see them all, enjoy the details and examine what they mean.

Photography is a great tool to create an index, to create a capture of the specifics in our society. This book is an index of identities, stories, families, homes, societies and much more.  A home is not just a home, it’s all that is around it and what it can represent.

This book is a great read, full of color, style and great use of still life and architectural photography. This book would be an amazing addition to any book library, you can learn much from it, get inspired and enjoy a well made photo project.