‘As I finally leant into looking at these pictures I’d made over a number of years, the painful story slowly revealed itself to me, connecting me to an important chapter of my history and to my family, and to my enduring fascination with objects, the domestic environment and more broadly the still life tradition of looking at the overlooked’
Katya de Grunwald’s new photographic book reveals a powerful, emotional narrative; an affecting, personal history of loss and betrayal. It tells how an act of small physicality would take on enormous significance, becoming a formative and lasting influence. The images of interiors and familiar everyday objects have been made throughout the artist’s life. They comprise arresting formal still life studies: snapshots of jugs in windows; and partially obscured views through windows interspersed with a brooding and deliberately simple, succinct text.
The interplay between images and words allows a disconcerting, poignant story to unravel gradually as the context of the ‘act of small physicality’ is eventually revealed. There is a simplicity about this book that belies the nuanced and elegant portrayal of a complex moment in one family’s history.
Her book ‘Do Not Disturb’ will be launched at Picnic, a dedicated photographic space in Hastings and at Bristol’s annual Photo Book festival organised by Martin Parr Foundation and The Royal Photographic Society (19th – 20th October2024). Currently available to purchase here.
Katya de Grunwald’s photographic work moves from quiet interiors, tender observations of simple everyday objects to landscapes. A connection to objects in their own ‘place’ has led her to produce a series of bodies of work. Projects include Made in Spode, Fold, unfold, Egg, And Yet… Her interest is in relating images in pairs or in a sequence, and the complex narratives that may emerge through doing so; seeing past the ordinary or mundane to revealing tensions that might otherwise remain unseen.
She explores notions of belonging and identity, absence and place. As well as creating elegant still life and interiors photographic work for numerous publications and clients (Liberty London, World of Interiors, Telegraph Luxury, Hole & Corner, Elle Decoration, Homes & Gardens and others), she is currently experimenting with hand stitching through the surface of the photographic image and working from an extensive archive to transform traditional prints into photomontage, layering and juxtaposing images together. Previous limited edition publications include ‘Made in Spode’ the result of a two-year project made on site in Stoke-on-Trent and a collaboration with poet Daniel Cockrill ‘Buying Christmas Trees With Bobby Gillespie’.
All images and text: © Katya de Grunwald
