The Enjoyment of Photography

Comprehensive monograph

This publication presents a broad selection of Josephine Pryde’s work from 1990 to 2014. In photographic works that encompass the full range of the medium’s historical and current genres, styles, and techniques, but also through sculpture and writing, the Berlin- and London-based artist (*1967) offers incisive, often ironic, and provocative commentary on the values, hierarchies, and economies subtending the field of contemporary art against the backdrop of larger societal shifts. Estranging the familiar or conversely expressing the common in a radically unforeseen manner, Pryde’s ingenuous choice of subject matter, unusual formal solutions and surprising juxtapositions continue to capture international exhibition audiences.

Prefaced by art historian André Rottmann, the volume features new essays by scholar Rhea Anastas and artist/critic Melanie Gilligan that insightfully survey Pryde’s work over the last two decades, providing in-depth discussions of the artist’s continuous engagements with photographic imagery, visual culture, social and artistic conventions, as well as political issues associated with feminism (among other concerns). An illustrated exhibition chronology and detailed bibliography provides further information on the artist’s career.

Featuring more than 350 color images, this most comprehensive monograph available on Pryde’s work to date appears subsequent to the artist’s mid-career survey exhibitions at the Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, and at Kunsthalle Bern in 2012.

Published in collaboration with Kunsthalle Bern and Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf.