Herv Guibert: Suzanne and Louise

Guiberts photo novel exploring the reclusive lives of his great-aunts, published in English for the first time The protagonists of Suzanne and Louise, the second book by French writer and photographer Herv Guibert, are his elderly great-aunts, who lived alone in a large townhouse in Paris 15th arrondissement. The older sister controlled the finances while the younger, a former nun, did the housekeeping. During a series of weekly visits from their grandnephew, these reclusive women offered up their home and their bodies to his camera. The resulting images would grow into Guiberts first and only photo novel, a provocative exploration of fantasy, mortality and desire. Originally published in France in 1980, and highly sought after by fans of Guibert, Suzanne and Louise is reissued here for the first time in a full English translation by Christine Pichini, a new introduction by artist and writer Moyra Davey and an account of the books origins by Thomas Simmonetdirector of the Parisian publishing house Les ditions de Minuitcomplete with testimonials, documentation, unpublished photographs and contact sheets. Herv Guibert (195591) was the author of 25 books and published extensive texts and criticism on photography, primarily with the French newspaper Le Monde. His bestselling novel To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life (1990) was inspired by his close friend Michel Foucault and the two mens experiences living with AIDS, which tragically ended Guiberts life at the age of 36.