Close to the Bayou
Close to the Bayou is a journey of artmaking in the face of death and explores what is passed on through that process. The work touches on themes related to male intimacy, sickness in isolation, mentorship, and cancer.
The photobook creates a documentation of the emotional space the artist, Dimitri Staszewski, and Thomas Mann, an uncle figure and artistic mentor share as Mann goes through treatment for prostate cancer during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. During that unprecedented period of isolation, Mann, a renowned jewelry and sculpture artist, continued producing work at a frenetic pace.
The work encourages audiences to question what it means to be close to the bayou. While that metaphorical space is open to interpretation, Close to the Bayou aims to guide viewers toward examining their own closeness with life and death, love, light, and the process of creating regardless of how much time we have left.
As Staszewski came close to finishing this project, he was diagnosed with cancer himself, which required surgery and chemotherapy to treat. He had to reconsider if the project was finished and eventually decided to rework the book as he was forced to apply the metaphor he had been building to his own experience.
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The cover of Close to the Bayou features an unusual use of embroidery and the interior is tactically driven, with the narrative unfolding over vellum that lies on the photographs. It's a photobook that fully considers the book as a medium for artistic expression.
Published by Workshop Arts
Design by Caleb Cain Marcus of Luminosity Lab
Book documentation by The Book Photographer
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This project was featured on the Truly Texan podcast produced by Hannah Ortega of The Austin-American Statesman.
