MELISSA SHOOK’S DAILY SELF-PORTRAITS, 1972-1973
2024-05-27In December of 1972, photographer Melissa Shook (1939–2020) assigned herself a personal, artistic challenge: to take self-portraits every day for a year, in her own words, “to prove that I exist.” Struggling with self-identity and unreliable childhood memories, Shook undertook this conceptual exercise to see if she could remember to take pictures every day. The days she failed to photograph herself became just as important as the days she succeeded, resulting in a singular body that powerfully conveys Shook’s relationship with memory, family, her body, and her sense of self. As both photographer and subject, Shook explored the dynamics of durational self-portraiture on both sides of her camera’s lens. The collective portrait that emerges conveys the vibrancy of Shook’s creative imagination, as she explores the intersecting facets of her identity as a woman, a mother, and an artist.
Exhibition runs through to August 4th, 2024
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4225 Oak Street
Kansas City
MO 64111