An American born photographer who was known for his creative images that bridged the gap between fiction and documentary. One of his best known project ‘Pictures from Home’ (1992) a project he started during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Sultan states in an interview with The Guardian (2nd May 2017) ‘the institution of the family was being used as an inspirational symbol by resurgent conservatives. I wanted to puncture this mythology of the family and to show what happens when we are driven by images of success. And I was willing to use my family to prove a point.’
According to Relph (1976) ‘home is the foundation and basis of human’s identity and existence’ and the work by Sultan demonstrates this. His project ‘Pictures from Home’ shows the physical location but also a very emotional one. This project lasts over 10 years and according to Williams (2014) ‘Sultan almost obsessively photographs his parents, capturing them in both brutally honest and heartbreakingly sweet moments’. You can clearly see the tension between his parents in a number of the images. There are both implied and physical barriers between the two but then there are some where their relationship really shines.
Bibliography
Website accessed 25/03/2020
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/02/larry-sultan-pictures-from-home-review
Relph, E.(1976): Place and Placelessness. London: Pion.
WILLIAMS, M (2014).: Larry Sultan’s Humanizing Investigations. Artbound. Available from: https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/larry-sultanshumanizing-investigations.
Michele Usher 