Additional images and information available here: http://www.clarebenson.com/BOOKS
Clare Benson’s The Shepherd’s Daughter presents photographs from her ongoing series which began in 2011. Benson’s poetic images explore the nuances and complexities of relationships between humans, nature, and time. Inspired by memories, family history, and ancestral traditions of hunting and gathering, the images foster dialogue around subjects of identity, ritual, mortality, sustainability, and preservation. Benson’s images are inspired by, and primarily based, in the landscape of rural northern Michigan. Other sites in this collection include the southwestern United States, Slovakia, and Scandinavia, serving as a reminder that symbols of landscape and climate transcend geographic specificity. Just as traditions change over time, the landscape shifts, as does our use of resources provided by the land. Combining documentary and directorial methods, Benson uses herself and members of her family as the main protagonists in her work; each of the subjects serve as archetypal characters navigating a liminal hinterland. Included alongside Benson’s images are thoughtful essays by Melissa Goodrich and Meg Jackson.
Clare Benson (born US, 1985) has exhibited her photographs, videos, and installation works throughout the US and internationally. She has presented lectures about her work at institutions around the world. In 2014/15, she was a Fulbright Fellow at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in northern Sweden. She is the recipient of grants from the American-Scandinavian Foundation and the Swedish Women’s Educational Association (SWEA) of San Francisco. Benson currently holds the position of Visiting Artist/Faculty in Photography at Arizona State University.
Melissa Goodrich is an award winning writer, and author of Daughters of Monsters, published in 2016 by Jellyfish Highway Press.
Meg Jackson is Assistant Professor at the University of Denver, specializing in critical theory, modern and contemporary art and history, and media studies. Jackson’s most recent project is called Running Bodies.
