P.North - Kathryn McCool
The title P.North does not refer to a place in the purest sense of the word. Based on a series of photographs taken in rural New Zealand and Australia, mainly in the 1980s and 1990s, Kathryn McCool's first book floats between decades, places, people and the less palpable dynamics that connect them.
Shopkeepers, the young, the faithful, young children and animals populate these photographs - the innocuous landscapes and sleepy activities of small towns provide a strangely charged backdrop. McCool's unusual photographic signature only feeds this intangible atmosphere. Shifting focal points, analog detritus and incursions into the frame - via a wandering arm, a shadow or a balloon - evoke both tenderness and disquiet. Be that as it may, these images have great weight and presence. Almost every character and every composition evokes a double gaze. What seems benign turns into concern; what is malevolent dissipates into innocence.
Contemplating his own questions of memory, faith, impression and encounter, McCool portrays his subjects with genuine dignity and humor. And this is where P.North finds her bearings. McCool has explained that she finds a kind of comfort in the awkward intensity and connection of the photographic exchange. By looking through the eyes of her subjects - as imperfect and complex as they and we all are - she reveals an attempt to understand herself.
Published by Perimeter Editions 2023
18.5 x 22.5 cm
96 pages
ISBN: 9781922545145
The title P.North does not refer to a place in the purest sense of the word. Based on a series of photographs taken in rural New Zealand and Australia, mainly in the 1980s and 1990s, Kathryn McCool's first book floats between decades, places, people and the less palpable dynamics that connect them.
Shopkeepers, the young, the faithful, young children and animals populate these photographs - the innocuous landscapes and sleepy activities of small towns provide a strangely charged backdrop. McCool's unusual photographic signature only feeds this intangible atmosphere. Shifting focal points, analog detritus and incursions into the frame - via a wandering arm, a shadow or a balloon - evoke both tenderness and disquiet. Be that as it may, these images have great weight and presence. Almost every character and every composition evokes a double gaze. What seems benign turns into concern; what is malevolent dissipates into innocence.
Contemplating his own questions of memory, faith, impression and encounter, McCool portrays his subjects with genuine dignity and humor. And this is where P.North finds her bearings. McCool has explained that she finds a kind of comfort in the awkward intensity and connection of the photographic exchange. By looking through the eyes of her subjects - as imperfect and complex as they and we all are - she reveals an attempt to understand herself.
Published by Perimeter Editions 2023
18.5 x 22.5 cm
96 pages
ISBN: 9781922545145
The title P.North does not refer to a place in the purest sense of the word. Based on a series of photographs taken in rural New Zealand and Australia, mainly in the 1980s and 1990s, Kathryn McCool's first book floats between decades, places, people and the less palpable dynamics that connect them.
Shopkeepers, the young, the faithful, young children and animals populate these photographs - the innocuous landscapes and sleepy activities of small towns provide a strangely charged backdrop. McCool's unusual photographic signature only feeds this intangible atmosphere. Shifting focal points, analog detritus and incursions into the frame - via a wandering arm, a shadow or a balloon - evoke both tenderness and disquiet. Be that as it may, these images have great weight and presence. Almost every character and every composition evokes a double gaze. What seems benign turns into concern; what is malevolent dissipates into innocence.
Contemplating his own questions of memory, faith, impression and encounter, McCool portrays his subjects with genuine dignity and humor. And this is where P.North finds her bearings. McCool has explained that she finds a kind of comfort in the awkward intensity and connection of the photographic exchange. By looking through the eyes of her subjects - as imperfect and complex as they and we all are - she reveals an attempt to understand herself.
Published by Perimeter Editions 2023
18.5 x 22.5 cm
96 pages
ISBN: 9781922545145
