Joyce Tenneson: Transformations

Joyce Tenneson's ethereal photographs of the human figure have been described as "mesmerizing, haunting, and truly beautiful." It is this distinctive vision and immediately recognizable style - a mysterious alchemy of sensuality and spirituality - that have brought her international acclaim, not only as a fine art photographer, but in the portrait, fashion, and beauty photography fields as well.
Using a graceful, formal structure and sculpturesque subjects against painted backdrops, Tenneson creates enigmatic and sensuous images with a mythic quality. Whether a classically draped nude or a mysterious portrait of a young child and an aged man, her photographs speak to the fragility of life, its poignant beauty - and its pain. The images are deeply affecting, evoking forgotten memories.
Transformations is the first book to feature Tenneson's color work. Published to coincide with a traveling exhibition originated by the International Center of Photography, New York, it presents the full range of Tenneson's personal color work since she began to work in color in the mid-1980s. Included are recent photographs called "light writings," in which Tenneson "draws with light." An illustrated interview with art critic David Tannous includes examples of her fashion and portrait work as well. The interview explores the autobiographical influences on Tenneson's work and underscores the intimate yet disquieting power of these startlingly beautiful photographs.

Human beings stripped of all but the lightest raiment dwell serene, contemplative and melancholy in this selection from a Tenneson exhibit at the International Center of Photography in New York City. In her introduction, Goldberg points out that Tenneson's work "composes itself around dualities": "angel and menace, childhood and age, beauty and sorrow." We see more than one madonna, a biblical patriarch, women and children arcanely adorned and obscurely posed. In an interview with Tannous, Tenneson calls herself a voyeur, but hers are the least erotic of nudes, meant to be "a kind of window on the psyche." Unfortunately, the interview is dominated by her trendy expositions in the "finding myself" mode. Tenneson has strong credentials in portrait, fashion, beauty, editorial and fine arts photography.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.