I once commented that we all want to live in Cig Harvey‘s world, a world of color and velvet and flowers and cake, sumptuous and emotional, where there is a particular richness to the every day. But the truth is, we DO live in Cig Harvey’s world, but we don’t work as hard to unearth the wonder that is before us. In some ways, she is an archeologist of beauty, carefully excavating and uncovering the layers of aesthetic and emotional significance in her subjects. Her astute powers of observation, plus her ability to infuse personal and emotional narratives into her work, make her photographs resonate on deep levels. Harvey’s visual language encourages a more profound connection to the world and its inherent beauty, leaving us with an ache and a longing for more.
Fortunately much of her excavation is wrapped up in emerald satin, or could it be taffeta, and offered up in her new monograph, Emerald Drifters, published by Monacelli/Phaidon. Harvey has always been a descriptive photographer and writer, not only in the subject matter, but how she speaks to being alive. Emerald Drifters is far more than stunning images, it takes us on a journey, with essays that poetically describe color, and charts that take us through ways of seeing. The afterword of the book is an essay written by the critically acclaimed author Ocean Vuong, the perfect bookend to a personal, sensual, and exquisite monograph.