Cuny JanssenMy Grandma was a Turtle

A Collection of American Motifs – this year (2010) Cuny Janssen is presenting two very special books of technically sophisticated production: “My Grandma was a Turtle” and “Amami.” Now that the Dutch photographer’s first book has already been included by Martin Parr in his voluminous “The Photobook History: Volume II,” the two could quickly become sought-after collectors’ items on account of their limited edition. “My Grandma was a Turtle” is a collection of American motifs in particular, culminating in double-page prairie pictures showing a considerable number of bison. Here too the artist combines landscape images with portraits of the inhabitants, yet she is less concerned with juxtaposing them; rather, the many photographic reproductions pasted in individually by hand lend the volume a unique format that could at most be compared with early photograph albums or with magazines for collectors’ picture cards.

Exhibition:
Foam, Museum of Photography, Amsterdam, 25/03/2010–02/05/2010