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Bea Nettles

(Gainesville, Florida, 1946 - )

Newborn Gavin

From the series "Life's Lessons: A Mother's Journal"

1988

Polaroid print

25 3/4 x 21 7/8 in. (65.5 x 55.6 cm)

Collection of the Akron Art Museum

Gift of the artist

2011.11

More Information

<SPAN STYLE="font-family:'HelveticaNeueLT Std Cn'">An innovative experimenter with photographic techniques, autobiography has been a consistent element in Bea Nettles’ practice. Much of the artist’s work references her family life, yet also speaks to broader ideas of motherhood, domesticity and sense of place. Invited by the Polaroid Corporation to use their large format camera in 1986, Nettles chose to rework imagery she had explored earlier. Newborn Gavin, which shows the artist’s hand holding a photograph taken just after the birth of her son in 1981, graces the cover of Nettles’ book Life’s Lessons: A Mother’s Journal. This selection of 50 photographs and accompanying commentaries shares the artist’s perceptions of and concerns for her children, including “the age old activities of separation . . . , sibling rivalry, gender identification and character formation. . . .”</SPAN>

Keywords
Polaroid
Black and White
Hand
Baby