Hannah StarkeyHANNAH STARKEY PHOTOGRAPHS 1997-2007

Hannah Starkey's early works were staged photographic scenarios based on the experiences of young women living in the contemporary city. Meticulously constructed and often cinematic, they suggested a narrative that had been artificially suspended in time. Her later works, which are both technically and compositionally more complex, set up a tension between the real and the imaginary and draw attention to the banality and dehumanizing effects of the constructed environments in which we lead so much of our lives. Her close observation of the urban landscape has produced a series of semi-abstract images in which surfaces a wall, an air-conditioning duct-become relevant subjects in themselves. Starkey continues to fuel and to challenge the development of her own imagery, making her one of the most influential and exceptional photographic artists working today. This book, her first, covers ten years' work.