POST x Photoworks Photobook Club

For our next POST x Photoworks Photobook Club, we will be offering a deep dive into the making of the photobook - 'Marilyn Stafford - A Life in Photography', co-edited by Nina Emett and published by Bluecoat Press (2021, 2024).

This event comes hot on the heels of the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award weekender at POST (18-20 September).

Nina will present a retrospective look at the life and works of the remarkable 20th century photographer Marilyn Stafford who went under the radar for decades.

Marilyn and Nina struck up a friendship in 2014 through their shared love of photography and discovered they had inter-twined family connections dating back to Paris in the 1950s. 

Model in Ready-to-Wear, with girl in scuffed boots, Montmartre, Paris, c1955. © Marilyn Stafford

Their unshakeable bond led to Nina becoming Marilyn's photo archive manager, exhibition curator and to their co-founding the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award, to provide grants for international women photographers, which has become part of Marilyn's legacy. 

Lockdown provided the perfect opportunity to compile and edit this extensive photobook, with significant input from Marilyn herself. The second edition was co-edited with Marilyn's daughter, Lina Clerke.

Nina will facilitate an open discussion about working with an extensive archive and how it translates into a retrospective book. She will discuss the process of creating this book: from first exploring the archive (20 plastic bags under Marilyn's bed!); through the meticulous process of archiving; making meaningful selections; laying out on the page; dealing with copyright and permissions; and the compiling of accompanying text. We will view the book together on a big screen and there will be hard copies to look through.

As usual, this photobook club session is intended to be welcoming and interactive with a small cohort of photobook lovers!

POST Members and Photoworks Friends may join this group for free but must book a place.