SLEEPING BEAUTY
THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS OF 2021
PopPhotography
For decades, Lydia Panas has pursued photo projects combining portraiture with psychological inquiry.
This newest series is a complex exploration of femininity. Panas’ subjects recline in natural settings, with
frank and unsmiling gazes, as if unhindered by artifice, fear, or even gravity.
Yet there’s an underlying tension. ‘The positions of the subjects’ bodies, prone in the grass, is vulnerable,
one that unnervingly both evokes tranquility and calls to mind violent crimes against women,’ Marina Chao writes
in the foreword. ‘But in this space and in this moment, they are in no danger. The women appear stolid,
unbothered, apprehensive, indignant, assured, exhausted, defiant, resolved, whole.’
https://www.popphoto.com/news/best-photography-books-2021/
SLEEPING BEAUTY
Float Magazine
These carefully crafted poses, reminiscent of traditional representations of sleeping figures, evoke a dreamlike quality.
Yet, in this artistic homage, Panas introduces a modern twist. By situating these images within the context of the present, she bridges
the gap between the classical and the contemporary, inviting viewers to reflect on the evolving role and perception of women in society.
Through her photographic lens, Panas creates a dialogue that transcends time, inviting contemplation on the
intersection of art, tradition, and the evolving narratives of womanhood.
https://www.floatmagazine.us/book-library/books/lydia-panas
Photographs by Lydia Panas
Texts by Marina Chao, Maggie Jones, Monae Mallory
MW Editions
Hardcover
10 x 12”, 112 Pages
65 Color Photographs
December 7, 2021
$50.00
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PHENOMENAL WOMEN
J.Sybylla Smith
This compilation of luscious portraits re-narrates myth with clear-eyed and intrepid knowing. Wide awake and
discerning, these people own their agency, fully aware at all ages that living in a female body entails
negotiating power, trust, danger, safety, and love.
“Panas creates a collective portrait of psychological womanhood as it is embodied by herself and those who view the work. The portraits are
also a collective mirror, reflecting back our feelings towards women, our assumptions, and expectations of them. The space of these
photographs is more gathered in, protected, and intimate, than in the artist’s previous bodies of work and has shifted from their
idyllic, pastoral surroundings to being unmistakably Edenic. Panas’ women - Panas herself, all of us -
are moving on, moving forward, and reclaiming the Garden.”
Marina Chao, Curator
“The juxtaposition of subjection and agency, stillness, and movement, is at the heart of Panas’ photos
which presents a counternarrative to the conventional anti-feminist story of "‘Sleeping Beauty’.
Maggie Jones, Journalist, New York Times Magazine
BEST PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS ROUND-UP PART II
Elizabeth Avedon Journal
In an interesting reversal of roles, the artist’s and model’s gazes are intertwined, incorporating the viewer as a participant
in an often uncomfortable connection. Critics and curators have praised the work for Panas’ artistic and technical
mastery, and all have noted and examined the powerfully affecting gaze of her subjects.
www.photoeye.com
WDIY Radio
Interview with Kate Scuffle
https://www.wdiy.org/
WFMZ TV
News Reporter Jaccii Farris
April 21, 2022
https://www.wfmz.com/news
F-STOP MAGAZINE
Cary Benbow
”Sleeping Beauty” succeeds in the way I always hope - Panas’ work has challenged me to think. The work is
masterfully created, so I am left to give my full attention to the grand questions of what she has done here. How
did she choose to express herself and how is it the same or different from what I’ve already experienced?
I’ve thought about this book for weeks - and I’m a better person for it.
https://www.fstopmagazine.com/
”Sleeping Beauty" by Lydia Panas”
March 31, 2022
https://www.fstopmagazine.com/
L’OEIL DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE
MW Editions: Lydia Panas: Sleeping Beauty
March 9, 2022
L'Oeil de la Photographie
NINUNINA
In Conversation with Visual Artist Lydia Panas
February 16, 2022
”Becoming an artist was an act of defiance for me. It was a way to say things I knew
but would not allow myself to acknowledge. Combining the psychological and the conceptual,
it helps me reconfigure and rewrite a complicated and difficult past.
It’s a feeling of freedom and great joy.”
https://www.ninunina.com/home/2022/2/16/
AESTHETICA MAGAZINE
Portraits of Becoming
February 11, 2022
https://aestheticamagazine.com
GIRL TALK HQ
”Sleeping Beauty” Photo Book is a Tonic to Fabricated Portrayals of Women”
Interview
”I think that’s exactly what the work is about - allowing women to take up space, to command the
viewing experience. But also, rather than ignore the reality, to depict the process, the challenge of taking
on this role. The women in these photographs look right back at the viewer, they are not objects/subjects/
beautiful pictures to be observed. The work can make people uncomfortable, but it’s the discomfort
that lends itself to discussing broader issues and can help us live better lives.”
December 21, 2021
https://www.girltalkhq.com
LENSCRATCH
”Lydia Panas: Sleeping Beauty”
Interview
November 27, 2021
http://lenscratch.com
ART DAILY
”MW Editions publishes Sleeping Beauty by Lydia Panas”
November 17, 2021
https://artdaily.cc/news/
ALL ABOUT PHOTO
”Sleeping Beauty by Lydia Panas”
October 25, 2021
https://www.all-about-photo.com
RELATED EVENTS
http://www.lydiapanas.com/events
LINK TO SERIES
http://www.lydiapanas.com/sleepingbeauty
