Signed Justine Kurland - Old Joy [Unavailable] - 2004

Exceptionally signed edition on the title page by Justiné Kurland (born 1969), original edition in a unique signed copy and unattainable elsewhere on the internet in an unsigned copy (counting nearly €400 for the only unsigned copy that can be found). 72 and 20 color photographs printed on double pages, English text by Jonathan Raymond. Sturdy publisher’s cloth binding illustrated on the cover. In excellent overall condition.

This book is the fruit of a playful collaboration between photographer Justine Kurland and writer Jonathan Raymond, following an original format created by Artspace Books (an exchange forum between artists and writers). At the start, Justine Kurland was seduced by the lyrical way Jonathan Raymond depicts American landscapes and analyzes the utopian community heritage of the 1960s in his first novel The Half Life, which led her to participate in the development of this joint work. From his side, Jonathan Raymond wrote a story inspired by the most recent image corpora of Justine Kurland, showing burned forests, naked men and women appearing as mere distant silhouettes within the landscape—in natural tableaux. (It should be noted that two other prestigious photographers participated in similar projects with writers on the same site and were published by the same publisher: Nan Goldin, Gregory Crewdson).

This book, published in 2004, also gave rise to a feature film directed by Kelly Reichardt in 2006, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006 as well as at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.

Born in 1969, Justine Kurland is a Yale MFA graduate, and her photographic works portraying adolescent girls have earned international recognition in recent years. She is known for her utopian and neo-romantic photographs of American landscapes and communities, both real and imagined, that inhabit them. Justine Kurland shoots her photos while traveling across the country, revealing the double-edged nature of the American dream. She presents a reality where utopia and nightmare are not diametrically opposed, but rather coexist in a difficult balance.

Exemplar in excellent overall condition, with however a slight sunning on the back (see photo); a book from my personal collection kept with the utmost care. Shipped protected with reinforced packaging and insured international tracking. For multiple purchases, possible grouped shipment with reimbursement of any excess postage paid via PayPal.