This limited edition book, for renowned German photographer Bettina von Zwehl, was designed to accompany an exhibition of the artist’s new work for the Holburne Museum in Bath. The work responds to the museum’s collection of historic portrait miniatures and develops her own recent experiments with photographic miniatures and the idea of the eye portrait. Using her husband and daughter Ruby as subjects, Bettina also photographed the eyes of a group of children from a London primary school. The children’s eyes challenge the historic and conventional subjects of portraiture as the sitters are unremarkable and anonymous.
The small format hardback book conveys the miniature scale, and incredible attention to detail and craftsmanship of Bettina’s works by reproducing them at life-size (where possible) and lavishing the same production values on the print. The cover features a black on black foil blocking along with a tipped-in reproduction miniature print.
Bettina von Zwehl
