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Working with a small, tripod-mounted camera and a self-timer, Melissa Shook set out to make a self-portrait every day beginning in December 1972. For nine months, Shook photographed herself in her cramped New York City apartment in a variety of poses and attitudes, at times defiant, vulnerable, witty, and playful. Her candid and sometimes irreverent images reveal much about her own life, but they also offer insights into the burgeoning photography scene, experimental portraiture, and feminist discourse of the 1970s. For a panel that explores these topics, artist Kristina Shook and photography historian Dr. Sally Stein will be in conversation with Amanda Bock, the Lynne and Harold Honickman Assistant Curator of Photographs.
Things to Know:
- There will be time for a Q&A at the end of the program.
- A link will be sent to registrants prior to the program from Public Programs no-reply@zoom.us.
- The program will be recorded. A link to the recording will be sent to everyone who registers for the program.
- The program is closed captioned. Contact publicprograms@philamuseum.org regarding other accommodation requests.
About the speakers:
Kristina Shook, the daughter of photographer Melissa Shook, was photographed from ages 1 to 18 for her mother’s first photo documentary series. She has also been involved in exhibitions featuring her mother's work and shared her personal experiences growing up as a subject of her mother's photographs. Kristina deeply appreciates her mother’s art and the powerful stories captured through Melissa Shook's lens. She is dedicated to preserving and promoting her mother's legacy, and she has spoken at events and panel discussions to raise awareness of her mother's impactful and intimate documentary series. She continues to spread the word about her mother’s photography, along with Miyako Yoshinaga Gallery, which represents the estate.
Dr. Sally Stein, Professor Emerita, UC Irvine, has long investigated photographic topics in relation to broader questions of culture and society. She has written extensively on the New Deal’s FSA photography – particularly work by Lange, Post Wolcott, and Delano – as well as the contested image of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt. In numerous essays about popular mass media (Ladies Home Journal, Life and Look), Stein has tracked the rise of color photography in both advertising and editorial pages that has greatly affected our perspectives on the world. Lately, she has also pursued the issues of portraiture and self-portraiture in the exhibits she has curated and publications on Ken Ohara, Gail Rebhan, and Melissa Shook. She knew Shook for nearly 50 years and has written the historical essay that accompanies the new monograph published by TBW on Shook’s first major series of intimate self-portraits from 1972-1973.