Holy

(Hardback)

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Description

Even with blackened eyes, the women in Donna Ferratos photographs look defiant, not defeated. A photojournalist and feminist activist who is best known for her documentation of domestic violence, Ferrato, 73, has also depicted women pursuing sexual pleasure, giving birth, raising children, enticing men and demonstrating in the streets. Her subject is women taking control of their bodies, and in her fiercely empathetic mission, sometimes she turns the camera on herself.

Arthur Lubow, The New York Times

Ferratos photos have the ability to sear into the recesses of your mind.

Kenneth Dickerman, The Washington Post

Ferrato recognizes photography as a tool to speak truth to power.

Miss Rosen, Feature Shoot

Her haunting photographs display the harsh reality of women facing domestic violence, an often- underrepresented issue, and give an honest, vulnerable approach to the issue

Margarita Matta, MUSE

The stirring photographs exhibited in Holy attest to Ferratos ongoing philosophy as an image-maker: My moral imperative is to be there and help people suffering in silence to respond as a human being, to earn trust, to listen. As womens rights feel particularly imperilled and progress has faltered in a way likely to devastate the lives of so many women in the US, Holy is both a restorative act of care and a stirring siren call.

Emily Dinsdale, DAZED

Photographer Donna Ferrato goes on a radical 50-year road trip across the USA as women fight for equality in the bedroom and the boardroom. Holy follows her journey from the sexual revolution of the '60s through the #metoo era of today.

Holy is forged from one woman's outrage against a woman-hating world. May it anger you. Donna Ferrato's radical photographs show what women are capable of surviving. More than survive, Holy depicts women who prevail. Holy is an invitation to understand how it feels being held down by the patriarchy-what we are fighting for, what we are up against--and how we manage to maintain a sense of desire and appetite. Fighting for equality in the bedroom and the boardroom, Ferrato's journey follows the sexual revolution of the '60s through the #metoo era of today.

Holy is a showcase of power. Donna's images reveal women's bodies in all their monstrous glory-even her own. May these photographs mobilize you, whether you are cis or trans, young or old, butch or femme. Human survival depends on women. Embrace your instincts, desires, brainpower, and strength. Embrace each other.

Reviews

"A deeply personal book,Holyembodies Ferrratos fierce, unflinching devotion to uncovering the complicated truth about womens lives.Her searing images... reveal womens bodies in all their monstrous gloryeven her own.From battered women and activists, to migrant workers and swingers, the stories told through these photographs will mobilize you, whether you are cis or trans, young or old, butch or femme.Human survival depends on women.Holyis Ferratos call to action to embrace your instincts, desires, brainpower, and strength." * GirlTalkHQ *
"It is a ferocious, 176-page collection of her most blistering photography, annotated with handwritten notes and blood-red splashes of colour (a visual representation, she says, of a womans heart). Its proof that, even at 71, Ferrato is still as radical, spirited and valorous as shes always been and a rebel to her bones." -- Dominique Sisley * AnOther *
'Thats the power of photography: to provoke people and show whats going on.' -- Guy Lane * The Guardian *
"This Winter's Best Coffee Table Books 2020" -- Allison Schaller * Vanity Fair *
"...Holyshowcases Ferratos fierce devotion to uncovering the complicated truth about womens lives, breaking with the traditional documentary approach and embracing non-objective journalism, where documentation, opinion, and immersion come together to tell her story over five decades." * Juxtapoz *
"Her images, broadly speaking, show women's survival within battles against the patriarchy. They delineate what they're fighting for in those battles from the boardroom to the bedroom, from the sexual revolution of the '60s to the #metoo era of today." -- Emily Gosling * Creative Boom *
"I am here to tell you that Ferratos photos have the ability to sear into the recesses of your mind. And by doing so, they give a lasting voice to the stories of the people she has photographed. In short, they are indeed heard." -- Kenneth Dickerman * Washington Post *
"The present book brings another surprise to those who doubt the power of women. ... Its a raw and poetic way to pay tribute to the women [Ferrato]has defended all her life." -- Laurence Cornet * Blind Magazine *
"Possessed with an unflinching eye and a compassionate soul, Ferrato use[s]photography to speak truth to power, addressing issues of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, sex work, sexuality, gender identity, healthcare, abortion, childbirth, childcare, family, and community." -- Miss Rosen * Huck Magazine *
"Fearlessly confronting once taboo issues like sexual assault, domestic violence, and sex work, Ferrato recognizes photography as a tool to speak truth to power and testify to not only the tragedies and traumas befalling women but the victories that achieve against the odds." -- Miss Rosen * Feature Shoot *
"Ferratos style is stark, open, guileless. ... There is none of the technicolor seediness of Nan Goldins The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, the brooding menace of Larry Clarks Tulsa or the subtle theatrical feminism evident in Cindy Shermans work. Lets say more Sam Peckinpah than Hitchcock." -- Madhu Joseph-John * PhotoBook Journal *

Author Bio

Donna Ferrato is an internationally-known documentary photographer. Her gifts for exploration, illumination, and documentation coupled with a commitment to revealing the darker sides of humanity, have made her a giant in the medium.

She has four books includingLiving with the Enemywhich sold over 40,000 copies, andLove & Lust, published by Aperture. She has participated in over 500 one-woman shows and has received awards such as the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Humanistic Photography (1987), the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism (2003), and the Gender Fairness Award from the New York State Supreme Court Judges (2009).

Ferrato founded a non-profit called Domestic Abuse Awareness which she ran for over a decade and in 2014 launched a campaign called I Am Unbeatable, which features women who have left their abusers. In 2016,TIMEmagazine announced her photograph of a woman being hit by her husband (1982) as one of the "100 Most Influential Photographs of All Time."

Her new book,HOLY, showcases Ferrato's fierce devotion to uncovering the complicated truth about women's lives. In Holy, Ferrato breaks with the traditional documentary approach. Here she embraces the Gonzo method, a non-objective journalism, where documentation, opinion and immersion come together to tell her story over six decades.