Introducing: Vee Speers

As you know, I am addicted to art. True. No joke. I came upon Australian photographer, Vee Speers, on Gwyenth's GOOP. (thanks Gwynnie!) That was quite some time ago and I still can't get Vee Speers out of my mind. Art tends to grab ahold of you like that, hence the addiction.

Vee Speers is an Australian artist who lives in Paris. Her work has been exhibited around the world. Her current series "The Birthday Party" has been haunting me. Ms. Speers created a series of photographs using her own daughter and her friends as subjects. The children range from eight to ten years old. The portraits are of the children in costumes, sometimes with props...a boxer, a bride, a nurse, a swimmer, a soldier. The children stare directly at the viewer, almost causing one to look away in discomfort. Some of the young subjects appear scared, while others seem to provide the fright.

I read that Ms. Speers took the life-size, Polaroid images in black and white, but realized they should have been color. It was too late..the children had taken off their costumes and gone home. Alas, she decided to painstakingly color the photographs by hand.

Please google Vee Speers and "The Birthday Party" so you can see the entire series. If you are haunted, like me, there is a beautiful coffee table book for purchase on Amazon. And, for the addict..Jackson Fine Art carries what is left of the series. Enjoy!

tb