“Dark Waters,” Kristine Potter’s second monograph, continues her engagement with the American landscape as a palimpsest for cultural ideologies. In this dark and brooding series, Potter reflects on the Southern Gothic landscape as evoked in the popular imagination of “murder ballads” from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Her seductive, richly detailed black-and-white images channel the setting and characters of these songs, capturing the landscape of the American South, and creating a series of evocative portraits that stand in for the oft-unnamed women at the center of their stories.
For our August Aperture PhotoBook Club gathering, Aperture executive director Sarah Meister joined Potter, writer Rebecca Bengal, designer Julia Schäfer, and editor Lesley A. Martin, to discuss the conception and production of “Dark Waters” and its urgency in today's cultural landscape.
Order “Dark Waters” here: bit.ly/potter-dark-waters
Order “Strange Hours” here: bit.ly/rebecca-bengal-strange...
Join the Aperture PhotoBook Club: bit.ly/Aperture-PhotoBook-Club
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Footnotes:
LISTEN
Inspired by "Dark Waters," we compiled a playlist of murder ballads. Hear songs from the depth of Americana alongside contemporary recordings ranging from Dolly Parton to Nick Cave, Norah Jones to PJ Harvey: open.spotify.com/playlist/5g3...
And don’t miss out on an extended conversation between Rebecca Bengal and Kristine Potter on the PhotoWork podcast: photowork.foundation/2023/06/...
COLLECT
Buy a special limited-edition print from Kristine Potter. “Pearl” (2019) is one of the eleven studio portraits punctuating "Dark Waters," each named after female victims from well-known murder ballads. These revisionist portraits emphasize the imaginative nature of the project, pulling the reader into the realm of the female psyche: aperture.org/kristine-potter-...
SUBMIT
Are you a photobook maker yourself? The 2023 Paris Photo-Aperture PhotoBook Awards are open for submissions till September 8. Submit today: aperture.org/calls-for-entry/...
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Support for the 2023 Aperture PhotoBook Club is generously provided by FotoFocus. "Dark Waters" was copublished by Aperture with Images Vevey and The Momentary.
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:46 Welcome to the Aperture PhotoBook Club
00:03:00 Introducing the Guests
00:04:18 PhotoBook FlipThrough
00:06:28 Origin of "Dark Waters"
00:08:59 What are "murder ballads" and their relationship to the work?
00:11:50 Why a book format for this series of photographs?
00:14:42 Putting together an all-female creative team
00:17:52 Rebecca and Kristine's creative partnership
00:23:29 Julia on translating ideas into design
00:28:41 Kristine walking through a photo sequence
00:29:58 Typography choices
00:33:26 Producting the book cover
00:37:17 Music appendix of murder ballads
00:39:57 Rebecca on the relationship between words, pictures, and design
00:41:53 Meaning of "blood harmony"
00:44:47 Kristine on making the photos and utlizing digital cameras
00:46:14 Who is the audience for this book?
00:49:31 Rebecca Solnit quote
00:51:00 Lesley on "shepherding" the creation of photobooks
00:52:40 The urgency of "Dark Waters" in today's cultural landscape
00:57:26 Closing Remarks