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.