Carolyn Drake - Knit Club - 2020

The mystique that shrouds Magnum photographer Carolyn Drake’s Knit Club is first encountered via its worn-looking cover and musty green-tinted edges; it’s easily mistakable for an old family album. Tucked inside is a series of richly reproduced images that invite you into a community of women with whom Drake embedded herself, developing familial bonds through shared time, wisdom, and secrets. Sarah Meister says, “The seductiveness of the images and the different modes of picture making and subjects makes for a gratifying photobook experience.” Alluding to the Southern Gothic literary form of William Faulkner, Drake weaves together a series of domestic still lifes and portraits into an alluring narrative that both illuminates and obscures. Meister confirms, “The secret parts of being a woman in the world, that men can never understand, are rendered in such a way that only heightens the mystery.”

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