First monograph by Charlie Engman, the rising star of fashion
photography: a vast series of pictures (500 images) of his mother, made over the
course of more than a decade. With texts by Rachel Cusk and Miranda July.
The book's title reveals the identity of its protagonist: Kathleen McCain
Engman has been posing for her son Charlie since 2009. And yet MOM
shows us a face we never really get to know: while we soon become acquainted
with her freckled complexion and intense gaze, her position in the images
becomes increasingly unclear. Engman first began shooting his mother because
she was available, ever-willing to meet the demands of one of her children.
But what began as a casual, organic process evolved into an intense
collaboration. The result is neither a family album nor a filial tribute but
a much deeper and far more complex interaction: one that raises questions
about the limits of familiarity, the rules and boundaries of roles and
representation, vulnerability and control, and what it means to look and to
be seen.
Photographer Charlie Engman
(born 1987 in Chicago, lives and works in Brooklyn) started taking
pictures while studying Japanese and Korean studies at the University of
Oxford. Intertwining with his art practice, he now stages, styles and
photographs people and objects for notable fashion magazines and brands,
garnering accolades like “captivating” and “daring” for his photo series,
campaigns and compositions. His extraordinary visual sensibility
consistently carries conviction and pushes the boundaries of fashion
photography. Charlie Engman's work has appeared in AnOther Magazine,
Dazed, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Vogue,
The New Yorker et al. and in campaigns for Prada, Marni, Hermès,
Sonia Rykiel, Stella McCartney or Vivienne Westwood.
