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The renowned photographer Catherine Opie takes on a challenging documentary project— an "indirect portrait" of Elizabeth Taylor through her home and possessions. One of America’s most celebrated living photographers, Catherine Opie works in series that are remarkably varied in
both style and subject matter—from intimate portraits of the
LGBTQ community to beautiful, nearly-abstract landscapes
featuring ice-fishing houses. Expanding that astonishing
range of subjects further is Opie’s ambitious recent series of
photographs taken at the home of late movie star Elizabeth
Taylor. Though glamour and celebrity are not common
themes in her work, Opie was inspired by the possibilities this
project offered—recalling William Eggleston’s series on Elvis
Presley’s Graceland, or her own photographs of Obama’s
2008 inauguration, both of which represent indirect portraits
of their subjects. The images in this moving collection
were culled from photos Opie took over the course of six
months, both on the grounds of and inside Taylor’s home.
The subjects are wildly diverse—a dog-eared remote control
manual, close-ups of Taylor’s enormous closets, shelves of
tchotchkes and priceless works of art—telling more about
Taylor’s life than any "celebrity" portrait ever could. Through
Opie’s thoughtful curation, Taylor’s home tells a poignant
story and reveals the arc of a fascinating life.
