Catherine Opie
To Be Seen
Will be published approx. on 5. March 2026
Book
Hardback
192 pages
978-1-85514-830-7 (ISBN)
Description
Contemporary artist Catherine Opie documents the ebb and flow of human culture. Opie's photography redefines portraiture, probing the complex questions of who we are, how we present ourselves, and why representation matters.
Catherine Opie is one of the most influential artists of our time, and through her portrait photography she conveys a sense of shared humanity and beauty. At the core of Opie's work is a persistent exploration of the evolving ideas around community, identity, and belonging, especially within the LGBTQ+ community.
Opie's wide-ranging portraits include intimate studio shots of friends and figures, capturing moments of vulnerability, pride, and resilience. Alongside these, she creates socially engaged documentary narratives, such as her images from the inauguration of Barack Obama. These photographs work in dialogue with one another to create new narratives, challenging viewers to reflect on the figures most commonly portrayed in art and those who go unseen.
This publication accompanies an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, developed in close collaboration with the artist. It raises vital questions about representation. Through her meticulously crafted studio portraits and domestic frameworks, Opie invites viewers to reflect on the diversity of identity and the enduring search for community and acceptance.
Catherine Opie is one of the most influential artists of our time, and through her portrait photography she conveys a sense of shared humanity and beauty. At the core of Opie's work is a persistent exploration of the evolving ideas around community, identity, and belonging, especially within the LGBTQ+ community.
Opie's wide-ranging portraits include intimate studio shots of friends and figures, capturing moments of vulnerability, pride, and resilience. Alongside these, she creates socially engaged documentary narratives, such as her images from the inauguration of Barack Obama. These photographs work in dialogue with one another to create new narratives, challenging viewers to reflect on the figures most commonly portrayed in art and those who go unseen.
This publication accompanies an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, developed in close collaboration with the artist. It raises vital questions about representation. Through her meticulously crafted studio portraits and domestic frameworks, Opie invites viewers to reflect on the diversity of identity and the enduring search for community and acceptance.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
120 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 290 mm
Width: 236 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
1293 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-85514-830-7 (9781855148307)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Catherine Opie is a renowned photographer whose work explores identity, community, and the American landscape. Known for series such as Being and Having (1991), Domestic (1995-98), and In and Around Home (2004-05), her photographs range from intimate portraits of the LGBTQ+ community to stark urban and suburban environments. Opie has exhibited widely, with solo shows at the Guggenheim Museum, LACMA, MOCA LA, and the Hammer Museum, and her work has been featured in the Whitney Biennial. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles.
Clare Freestone is Curator, Photography, at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Recent publications include Yevonde: Life and Colour (2023) Photographs in Dialogue UAE - 1971 - UK (2020) and Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer (2011), with contributions made to Love Stories: Art, Passion & Tragedy (2020).
Magdalene Keaney is Curator at the National Portrait Gallery of Australia. She was Senior Curator, Photography, at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 2018-2022. Recent publications include Francessca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In (2024), with contributions made to Women at Work: 1900 to Now (2023), Yevonde: Life and Colour (2023) and 100 Fashion Icons (2019).
Alistair O'Neill is a writer, curator and professor of fashion at Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London). He is the author of Faye Toogood: Drawing, Material, Sculpture, Landscape (2022), Exploding Fashion: From 2D to 3D to 3D Animation (2021), and London: after a fashion (2007). O'Neill recently curated, A Hard Man is Good to Find! (The Photographers' Gallery, London), he sits on the editorial board of Fashion Theory, and writes regularly for Aperture magazine.
Mark Godfrey is co-director of New Curators, a one-year curatorial training programme for international curators from lower socio-economic backgrounds. He was Senior Curator, International Art, at Tate Modern from 2007-2021. Since leaving Tate, he has curated exhibitions of Laura Owens and Vincent van Gogh (Foundation Vincent van Gogh, Arles), Nicole Eisenman (Whitechapel Gallery, London), Pino Pascali (Fondazione Prada, Milan), and Jacqueline Humphries (Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio).
Clare Freestone is Curator, Photography, at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Recent publications include Yevonde: Life and Colour (2023) Photographs in Dialogue UAE - 1971 - UK (2020) and Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer (2011), with contributions made to Love Stories: Art, Passion & Tragedy (2020).
Magdalene Keaney is Curator at the National Portrait Gallery of Australia. She was Senior Curator, Photography, at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 2018-2022. Recent publications include Francessca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In (2024), with contributions made to Women at Work: 1900 to Now (2023), Yevonde: Life and Colour (2023) and 100 Fashion Icons (2019).
Alistair O'Neill is a writer, curator and professor of fashion at Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London). He is the author of Faye Toogood: Drawing, Material, Sculpture, Landscape (2022), Exploding Fashion: From 2D to 3D to 3D Animation (2021), and London: after a fashion (2007). O'Neill recently curated, A Hard Man is Good to Find! (The Photographers' Gallery, London), he sits on the editorial board of Fashion Theory, and writes regularly for Aperture magazine.
Mark Godfrey is co-director of New Curators, a one-year curatorial training programme for international curators from lower socio-economic backgrounds. He was Senior Curator, International Art, at Tate Modern from 2007-2021. Since leaving Tate, he has curated exhibitions of Laura Owens and Vincent van Gogh (Foundation Vincent van Gogh, Arles), Nicole Eisenman (Whitechapel Gallery, London), Pino Pascali (Fondazione Prada, Milan), and Jacqueline Humphries (Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio).
Content
Introduction by Clare Freestone
QUEER PERSPECTIVES : Being and Having by Alistair O'Neill
MAPPING A COMMUNITY: Catherine Opie's Photographic Cartography by Magda Keaney
NATIONAL IDENTITY, NATIONAL PORTRAITS: An excerpt from Joan Didion's On The Road
VISIBILITY: Intense / Opaque by Mark Godfrey
WITHIN: OPIE IN THE GALLERY: Catherine Opie in dialogue with Katy Barkan
QUEER PERSPECTIVES : Being and Having by Alistair O'Neill
MAPPING A COMMUNITY: Catherine Opie's Photographic Cartography by Magda Keaney
NATIONAL IDENTITY, NATIONAL PORTRAITS: An excerpt from Joan Didion's On The Road
VISIBILITY: Intense / Opaque by Mark Godfrey
WITHIN: OPIE IN THE GALLERY: Catherine Opie in dialogue with Katy Barkan