Photographer Roe Ethridge’s images blur the lines between commercial and sentimental

Date
8 December 2016

Brooklyn-based photographer Roe Ethridge has become known for exploring the fake and plastic nature of photography and in his work he often adapts existing images by adding new interpretations of reality or shoots highly stylised images inspired by classical compositions.

In his new book Neighbors, Roe presents more than 15 years of his work, which sees him “collapse distinctions between commercial, conceptual and personal uses of photography”. The book is published by Mack and has been split into three sections. The main chapter spans his career from early self-published projects to his most recent works. Either side of this chapter are two series of images that demonstrate Roe’s signature deadpan style, which blurs the lines between sentimental and commercial photography by photographing domestic animals and people in an unusual aesthetic.

Roe designed the book with New York publishing gallery Karma, and it sporadically tracks the photographer’s career with vivid pages of imagery making peculiar and interesting links. This is emphasised through the new dialogue being created between Roe’s images in their different arrangements on the page.

The book coincides with Roe’s first solo exhibition in North America at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show, titled Nearest Neighbor, is similar in content to the book in that it highlights the personal nature of his work, where the photographer often draws upon his friends and family to be subjects in his images.

Above

Roe Ethridge: Neighbor

Above

Roe Ethridge: Neighbor

Above

Roe Ethridge: Neighbor

Above
Left

Roe Ethridge: Neighbor

Above

Roe Ethridge: Neighbor

Above

Roe Ethridge: Neighbor

Above

Roe Ethridge: Neighbor

Above

Roe Ethridge: Neighbor

Share Article

About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.