Knowledge Knowledge

.
Tomorrow night from 6–8PM at Dashwood Books in New York, photographer Malerie Marder will be signing copies of her first book, Carnal Knowledge, published by Violette Editions.

A seminal early experience for Malerie Marder was when a family friend invited her to photograph her with her lover, naked and in the anonymous setting of a motel room. This set the tone for Marder's work for the next decade. Her photographs of nudes are composed simply, her subjects sitting plainly near the centre of the frame, often set against the bleak anonymity of motel rooms, their impassive gazes almost daring a viewer to interpret their bodies. Beautifully illustrated with more than 70 works by Marder – described by Charlotte Cotton in her introduction as an 'episodic drama of adjacencies' – Carnal Knowledge also contains a preface by Gregory Crewdson, a text by novelist James Ellroy, short stories inspired by Marder's works by A. M. Homes, James Frey and Bruce Wagner, as well as a written and photographic correspondence between Marder and Philip-Lorca diCorcia.

Here are the first images of Marder's I noticed, from "The Others," an October 2007 New York Times Magazine story styled by Anne Christensen.

There are a lot of great fashion stories in the world but this one stood out to me because of its beautiful color, perfect/creepy compositions and styling, and exceptionally well-executed conceptual narrative. (Click here for more.)

I'm looking forward to checking out Marder's book. Click here to pre-order from Dashwood, or if you're in NY head over to the shop tomorrow night from 6–8PM.