Marie Shannon

Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1960

Baby Clothes

  • 1986
  • Silver gelatin print, selenium toned
  • Gift of the Friends of Christchurch Art Gallery, 2022, in celebration of their 50th Anniversary 1971-2021
  • 384 x 697mm
  • 2021/187

In 2018, Marie Shannon described works such as Baby Clothes as exploring her interest in domestic locations: “[It was a] location that I could control, that I could work in any time that I wanted. But that wasn’t just convenience. I am one of those people that really likes sitting in a room staring at a corner – looking at the space of a room, at the arrangement of furniture. Locations have their own characters but there is something universal about domestic locations. It’s a background against which you can do things and say things.

I really enjoy unspectacular locations. When I first began working in this way, a lot of photographers weren’t seeking out their own environments. They were outward looking and they were trying to put themselves in novel situations to bring back news of the world or bring back news from places that weren’t their own. I knew from early on that didn’t fit with me just because I wasn’t that kind of outgoing person. I wasn’t a person who could bury myself in somebody else’s life or situation.”

(Perilous: Unheard Stories from the Collection, 6 August 2022- )

Exhibition History