Catherine Chalmers: American Cockroach

by Steve Baker, Garry Marvin, Lyall Watson

Catherine Chalmers' second Aperture monograph invites us to meditate on the pleasures and terrors of the common domestic pest, Periplaneta americana, also known as the American cockroach. In three different series of photographs, Infestations, Imposters and Executions, Chalmers challenges us to reconsider how we distinguish between creepy infestation and acceptable nature. With a slight B-movie quality, the images push us to think carefully about the ways in which we determine some creatures to be lovable and others best squashed under a shoe.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2004

Reviews

[Jenny Schmenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Photos of roaches in their unnatural habitats: living in miniature homes, dolled up in feathers and sparkles, and posed in scenes of executions. Good good stuff.