Internationally known photographer and author Rosamond Purcell will discuss her work and life Thursday, Feb. 28, at noon in the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections in Carlson Library.
The Massachusetts-based “doyenne of decay” has written or illustrated 17 books, including two with Stephen J. Gould, an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and historian of science. She is known for her photographic documentation of natural history collections housed in such far-flung places as the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.
In addition, Purcell has had more than 50 solo exhibitions of her photography.
Last fall, artwork by her and Michael Witmore was featured in the exhibition titled “Very Like a Whale: Seeming is Believing in Shakespeare,” which was on display at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.
“Purcell’s photographic works take us into the world of decay; they remark on the nature of transitional states of being. They are beautiful in the extreme,” said Barbara Miner, UT associate professor of art.
“She is able to magically capture the ephemeral aspects of preciousness, and we are left wanting to be explorers of the discarded and overlooked too. She bridges a scientist’s inquisitive, data-collecting mind with an artist’s sensibilities perfectly.”
Purcell’s free, public talk is sponsored by the UT Department of Art and the Friends of the Libraries.
To learn more about Purcell, visit rosamondpurcell.com.
For more information, contact Miner at barbara.miner@utoledo.edu or 419.530.8315, or David Remaklus at david.remaklus@utoledo.edu or 419.530.4030.
