Book Review: Still Life: Photographs and Love Stories by Kate Sterlin

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Book Review: Still Life: Photographs and Love Stories by Kate Sterlin

November 23rd, 2024 by Cary Benbow

Sissy in Pool 1, Mérida, Mexico, 2021 © Kate Sterlin, from Still Life, published by Anthology Editions

Kate Sterlin has meticulously explored the intricate relationships between individuals, families, and communities through her lens for decades. Her debut book, Still Life: Photographs & Love Stories, is a poignant testament to the power of intimacy. By seamlessly weaving together lyrically narrative photography and poetic prose, Sterlin crafts a diaristic narrative that delves into the depths of human connection. From the joys of family (in all its complexity), and romance to the sorrows of loss and tragedy, Still Life offers a profound exploration of Black identity and the complexities of the human experience. A testament to Sterlin’s unwavering artistic vision, this book is a poignant blend of the personal and the universal.

Visually, the book is a mix of archival photos alongside Sterlin’s autobiographic photos and captured moments. We see a full range of black and white images of family, friends and lovers. People are shown in unguarded moments; swimming naked, sleeping, or casually posing for the camera yet not breaking eye contact with the lens. We see Sterlin’s old family photos, images of her father sitting in his home, her mother, her children, folks eating at a holiday dinner table, or resting in a hospital bed.

Sterlin’s text is the poetry of life lived by Sterlin, or a facsimile of it. The truth is not often fully reflected by a mere record of names, places, dates and summaries of events. A sentence like, “Tally up the things we tried to save inside the myth of what we are,” carries more truth than you would’ve thought possible. Her images are interwoven with poems about life and loss and intimate vulnerability. In the interview by Arooj Aftab, Sterlin says, “I’ve always thought that my drive to preserve memories and stop time was related to my dad’s illness when I was growing up and in reaction, my mom’s obsessive moving habits: every year, running to, running from. I think taking photographs was my attempt to create some permanence – a document I could later reference. And I was really young when I had my own kids, so I continued to document while also taking care of babies and a house and trying to act like an adult; so a lot of the images are of my family and friends. I think I am still learning the what’s and why’s of my lens and where I point it now, as I age and feel the weight of everything in a different way. The writing,” Sterlin adds, “is a more personal exploration of love and intimacy, though it does not feel related to the work of intimate portraiture: understanding the vulnerability intrinsic to that form, and experiencing it for myself.”

Sunday Morning, Harlem, NY, 2021 © Kate Sterlin, from Still Life, published by Anthology Editions

Jody Rome Backlit, Los Angeles, CA, 2020. From the book Still Life by Kate Sterlin, published by Anthology Editions

Christmas Dinner, Boston, MA, 1988 © Kate Sterlin, from Still Life, published by Anthology Editions

The visual narrative Sterlin has created is that of sweet sadness; poignant moments we’d rather not revisit but can never forget. You’d never trade them for the world, but cannot fully grasp the why-ness of it. Sterlin’s exploration of these themes of life give the viewer/reader insight to her experiences, to better understand what is shared with others, and how someone navigates life while straddling different worlds of identity. In Sterlin’s case – she asks shares these words about her father, her mother, and herself:

“He died broken and afraid. But loved. I taught myself about
racial identity without his help, or hers. What it meant to claim
blackness in a light skinned body. Trying to claim it for him.
For his fractured family, for the childhood of discrimination
he silently swallowed. For the conversations that were squashed
or never dared. Unsuccessfully passing through.
[…]
“We stopped saying mulatto. We said “mixed,” no embrace.
No place. Parts. We were part Black. A part unknown. He
didn’t help. He didn’t know. It was his Blackness but it sat by
the door. Unclaimed. In this whiteness. Political correctness.
“What are you?””

Sterlin shares in a recent interview that the conversation of race in her lifetime has finally become something she didn’t have to feel bad about. Race has always been an important aspect for her, she says, and now it’s at the forefront of discussion for the country and the world, especially since 2020 and the Black Lives Matter movement. “Being at those protests and photographing… I’m mixed-race, but out in the world I have that white-passing privilege. What that means when you’re on the street, when you’re taking photos… it’s about storytelling and authorship and responsibility, and creating a cultural archive – one that I think has been really skewed in this country.”

Adrea, Tessa, Zsela and Jody Rome at Hobart on the Carpet 2, Los Angeles, CA, 2002 © Kate Sterlin, from Still Life, published by Anthology Editions

Joshua Tree, CA, 2020 / Kids After a Flood 1, Treasure Beach, Jamaica, 2000 © Kate Sterlin, from Still Life, published by Anthology Editions

Tessa and Jody Rome in the Crochet Museum, Joshua Tree, CA, 2020 © Kate Sterlin, from Still Life, published by Anthology Editions

My lone criticism of the book is the way some of the images are placed across two pages, and the gutter of the book disrupts a person’s face or the way two people interact. It only occurred a few times, but the impact of a large image is sometimes exactly what is needed in the pacing and edit of a project. But for me, a jarring cut in the visual flow really distracts me from the underlying story. Regardless, I found the book to be very touching and evocative. Reading the poems and comparing the narrative flow of her images to the poems felt real, felt pertinent and valuable. The business of knowing one’s self is so messy, and sometimes it helps to get better at it by walking that path with another person.

Still Life: Photographs & Love Stories
Photographs and text by Kate Sterlin
Interview by Arooj Aftab and essay by Tessa Thompson
8.25″ x 10.5″ / 20.9 x 26.6 cm
192 pages
October 2024
Published by Anthology Editions – anthologyeditions.com | @anthology
All images from Still Life by Kate Sterlin, published by Anthology Editions, are used by permission of the publisher. https://anthology.net/book/still-life/

Kate Sterlin is a photographer and writer whose work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Vogue. Stemming from formative experiences mentoring under acclaimed documentarian Mary Ellen Mark alongside her striking early snapshots of her father, she has developed dual bodies of work in street photography and portraiture that wend together to capture otherwise hidden stories. She has been exhibited in group and solo shows, and her film Sometimes has been shown at film festivals internationally. After a long period of working and living in New York City, she is currently based in Los Angeles, CA. https://www.katesterlin.com/ | @kate_sterlin

About Cary Benbow

Photographer, Writer, Publisher of Wobneb Magazine

View all posts by Cary Benbow →

Location: Online Type: Black and White, Book Review, Community, Family

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