Anja Niemi: In Character in Bloomington, MN

A career-to-date monograph by Anja Niemi, one of today’s most fascinating contemporary photographers, who places herself in front of the lens to create elegant, meticulously staged, and utterly memorable imagery.
Anja Niemi: In Character
is the first career retrospective monograph by one of the most exciting talents working in contemporary photography. Niemi’s work has emerged as a distinctive force within the venerable tradition of conceptual self- portraiture.
A photo artist who works alone—photographing, staging, and acting out the characters in all of her images—Niemi is a constant presence (in character) in her work, developing complex, nuanced narratives through evocative costume and styling. In her bewitching
Darlene & Me
series she reconfigures the concept of the Hitchcock blond within a pristine Lynchian landscape for her own visual pleasure—and ours—while in
She Could Have Been a Cowboy
she turns the lens to a life lived under the constraints of conformity.
With over one hundred and seventy photographs organized into the six series that have defined Niemi’s career to date, supported by an essay and interview by Max Houghton,
is the perfect introduction for those encountering Niemi’s work for the first time, and a comprehensive retrospective for her longtime followers.