You can call me Nana: Print Edition
Will Harris
£125
Print Edition of 30 – Three print options of 10 each plus 2 Artist Proofs
Each Edition includes:
+ A hand-signed copy of You can call me Nana hardcover book, 96 pages, 17 x 21.5 cm with 120 images, loose inserts, and Afterword by Will Harris
+ Choice from three limited edition giclée prints presented on Canson Baryta paper, numbered and signed by Will Harris, presented in a folder made with GF Smith Accent Fresco black paper with photo corners and acid-free protective sheets
+ Packaged in a hand-constructed, contrasting wrapper made from Gmund Heidi recycled paper (no sheets alike!), and finished with an image of Evelyn on a tractor
Description
A personal yet universal family memoir, this story introduces us to Will’s grandmother, Evelyn, who suffered from dementia in the later years of her life. As her memories eroded, history and fiction collided and a new relationship bloomed; once her grandson, the photographer became an old friend, creating this work while trying to make sense of a newfound connection and to deal with his own grief. At times both haunting and lighthearted, this book weaves together family archives with altered images, collage, and new photographs. Along with some confused and touching conversations with Nana, Will assembles the fragments that went missing from her mind. You can call me Nana was a selected finalist in the 2021 Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards.
Each Print Edition of You can call me Nana features:
+ A hand-signed copy of You can call me Nana hardcover book, second printing with aubergine cover, 96 pages, 17 x 21.5 cm with 120 images and illustrations, three loose inserts, and Afterword by Will Harris
+ A choice from three limited edition Print options:
Giclée prints have slightly different image sizes as specified below, printed on Canson Baryta fine art paper – 310gsm with a smooth reflective coating, archival standard. Your selected print is hand-signed by Will and numbered on the back, presented in a black folder with protective sheets and enclosed along with the book in the edition wrapper.
– PRINT CHOICE: ‘CLOCK #2’ (edition of 10 plus 2 APs)
Image size 15.4 x 19.3 cm (Approx 6 x 7.5 in); Paper size 16.5 x 21.8 cm (Approx 6.5 x 8.5 in)
– PRINT CHOICE: ‘LAST BREAKFAST’ (edition of 10 plus 2 APs)
Image size 19.2 x 15.2 cm (Approx 7.5 x 6 in); Paper size 16.5 x 21.8 cm (Approx 6.5 x 8.5 in)
– PRINT CHOICE: ‘COMBINED #1’ (edition of 10 plus 2 APs)
Image size 20.4 x 15.3 cm (Approx 8 x 6 in); Paper size 16.5 x 21.8 cm (Approx 6.5 x 8.5 in)
+ The book and print folder are wrapped in a contrasting protective wrapper, handmade from luxuriously touchable, recycled paper stock (Gmund Heidi). Over time the paper will form organically around the book from handling, giving a lasting impression and a sense of soul to the edition as a package. The wrapper is finished with an image of Evelyn on a tractor, applied to the front with black photo corners.
For further details about this project, see descriptions on the trade edition book page
The Author
Based in Pennsylvania, Will Harris completed an MFA in Photography & Integrated Media at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. In 2019 he was a finalist in Photolucida’s Critical Mass and was awarded their MFA Student Scholarship. Will has exhibited in the USA, India, and Denmark, and in 2015 he had a residency at Arteles Creative Center in Finland. In early 2020 he received a Black Creative Endeavors Grant, awarded by Something Special Studios in New York. His first book You can call me Nana was a finalist in the 2021 Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards and shortlisted for a Lucie Foundation Photobook Award. It is held in private and public collections worldwide including The Museum of Modern Art (NY), the George Eastman Museum Library (NY), the Central University for Art History (Munich) and the Gabriela Cendoya Bergareche Collection at San Telmo Museum (Spain). www.willharris.co
Reviews + Press
“The photographs loop in affective rhythms that are deeply attuned to the contingencies of memory and the experience of grief. Everything feels present and departed at once. An archive, by definition, is always incomplete, subject to omission or loss, and Harris mines these blind spots with great resonance in his account of Evelyn’s life and illness.” – Laura Larson, Photo-eye
“The playful and sensitive nature in which Harris has navigated the circumstance he finds himself in and his nana’s legacy is both soulful and honest. The photographs linger with you, bringing a smile at seeing a young and healthy Evelyn and awakening a deep sadness at what dementia does to its hosts.”
– Harry Ross, Darwin magazine
“When Will Harris’ new monograph, You Can Call Me Nana, arrived, I was excited to take the journey through the pages of his remarkable visual storytelling. The size of the book sits between the space of a bible and a journal and maybe the book is a little bit of both, maybe it’s a scrap book of sorts, but ultimately it’s a love story of the best kind.” – Aline Smithson, Lenscratch
“You can call me Nana unfolds in a poetic, non-linear fashion related to its themes of memory, home, and familial legacies, mingling material from Beckett’s past and present between blue marbled endpapers. Visually restrained but brimming with attention and care, Harris’s book conveys an evocative portrait of a woman who was deeply loved.” – Jennie Waldow, The Brooklyn Rail
“Harris’s elegaic masterpiece packs a wallop in a small package. A visual ode to his grandmother Evelyn, the book had me in tears from the first pages.” – Dolly Meieran of 10×10 Photobooks, Photobookstore
“Combining the stories that Evelyn told Harris when he was a child, vernacular photographs from family albums, and audio recordings, the photographer comes up with something strangely new, haunting, and at times painfully beautiful.” – GUP magazine
“This book explores the relationship between photography and memory and time and family so beautifully. A true gem.”
– Sara Macel, Photography Program Coordinator and Lecturer at SUNY Rockland Community College
“An unconventional re-imagination of a personal history and family archive. This memoir is deeply personal and at the same time quite universal… it conveys both the sadness and pain of witnessing a loved one suffering from dementia, and the warm memories the artist keeps in his heart.” – Olga Yatskevich, Collector Daily
See more:
Collector Daily review by Olga Yatskevich
Photo-eye review by Laura Larson
Lenscratch review
British Journal of Photography feature, February 2021 Then and Now Print issue (view online)
Strange Fire review
Fisheye magazine feature (French)
Feature in Darwin magazine, Haunting Beauty of a life remembered
Phases mag
C41 Magazine
Lesley University Alumni interview
Selected pre-release features
Strange Fire interview
GUP magazine
Fraction Magazine
Special Notes
*FINALIST: The 2021 Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards, First Photobook prize
*Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards Exhibition, January 20 through February 27, 2022 at Printed Matter NYC
*FINALIST Lucie Photobook Awards – First Photobook Prize (Independent)
*Photo-eye’s Best Books of 2021, selected by Laura Moya, Director of Photolucida
*The Brooklyn Rail: 20 Best Art Books of 2021
*Photobookstore Photobooks of 2021, selected by Martin Amis
*Photobookstore Photobooks of 2021, selected by Dolly Meieran, 10×10 Photobooks
*Favourite Photobooks of 2021, selected by Ola Søndenå, Department of Special Collections, University of Bergen Library
*Favorite Photobooks of 2021, What Will You Remember? selected by by Elin Spring and Suzanne Revy
*Mirrored Society Photobooks of 2021, selected by Julian Lucas
*Holiday Catalogue Selection 2021, Skylight Books
*Curated selection Fiebre Photobook Festival 2021 – Erika Goyarrola, Curator & Professor
*Curated selection Fiebre Photobook Festival 2021 – Eneka Fernandez, Curator
*Bildersturm Recommended Photobook, April 2021
*Photo-eye Book of the Day April 13, 2021
*Bestseller Photo-eye Bookstore, March, June 2021
*Photobookstore Recommended Pick, March 2021
*Curated selection Fiebre Photobook Festival 2020 – Gabriela Cendoya, Collector
*Curated selection Fiebre Photobook Festival 2020 – Tim Clark, Editor in Chief at 1000 Words, writer, curator and lecturer
You can call me Nana is held in the following collections:
AGO Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives (Toronto, CA)
The British Library (UK)
Arts University Bournemouth (UK)
Central University for Art History, Library (Munich, DE)
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ingalls Library (OH, USA)
George Eastman Museum Library (Rochester, NY)
Missouri State University (Springfield, MO)
Museum of Fine Arts, (Houston, TX)
Museum of Modern Art – MOMA (USA)
École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie (Arles, FR)
San Telmo Museum – The Gabriela Cendoya Bergareche Collection (ES)
University of Sunderland (UK)
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Flaxman Library (USA)
SUNY at New Paltz, Sojourner Truth Library (NY, USA)
Syracuse University (NY, USA)
Tufts University – Tisch Library (Medford, MA)
TSU/Pickler Memorial Library Missouri (USA)
UMBC Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery (Baltimore, MD)
University of Vermont Howe Library, David W. Howe Memorial Library (Burlington)
