Diary
of a Love Addict by Paula Rae Gibson.
Published by Kehrer Verlag. 2006. ISBN: 978-3936636765
Paula
Rae Gibson is a British singer, songwriter, film maker and photographer.
Born in London in 1968, Rae Gibson was married to the British film
director Brian Gibson (Poltergeist 
II:
The Other Side, Breaking Glass and What's Love Got to Do with It)
who died in 2004, at the age of 59, from a form of cancer called Ewing's
Sarcoma. Rae Gibson nursed her husband through his illness and much
of her photography and songwriting explores their relationship and
her grieving process, sense of loss and pain. Her photographic work
has been exhibited internationally, including Paul Kopeikin Galllery,
Stephanie Hoppen London, Fotographie Frankfurt Forum, Germany and
Someone's Garden Tokyo. Diary of a Love Addict is the first
of two monographs and was nominated, in 2007,for the Deutscher Fotobuchpreis.
Rae Gibson has released several recordings including 'No More
Tiptoes', 'Maybe Too Nude' and 'You Gather My darkness
Like Snow, Watch It Melt'.
Diary
of a Love Addict opens with an introduction by Milan Chlumsky,
drawing heavily from Roland Barthes, that is both informative and
sets the scene for what is to come. It is that rarest of introductions,
one that adds to the work. In many ways Rae Gibson's photography and
approach to her practice remind this reviewer of the work of Francesca
Woodman, especially in regard to its raw honesty. Indeed,
as with Woodman, 
Rae
Gibson is very often the subject before the camera lens. She started
making photographs
in 1992 after being involved in a car accident that almost took her
life. Rae Gibson has stated that her motivation behind her
later work is down to another life changing event..
"When my husband was diagnosed with death,
our daughter was 20 weeks old. I was the last person on the planet
equipped to be a single parent, let alone exist without him, and I
started to take photos of myself obsessively. It was an excuse to
get dressed, an excuse not to get dressed, it was proof I hadn't disappeared...
been buried with him"
Diary
of a Love Addict is a deeply personal, autobiographical
work that takes the form of a series of beautiful self portraits,
images of children, personal belongings and text that are
constructed to create, within the viewer, a studied sense of loss,
grief, passion, guilt, survival and pain. It is unflinching in its
honesty, it pulls no punches. Many of the photographs have been first
printed and then artistically stressed, torn and treated with bleach
or purposely left partially fixed or stained. As with our memories,
many of the images are faded and in soft focus. We are encouraged
to concentrate and to 'look' past or through the fog of memory. We
are also challenged as to the meaning of the gaze, both of our own
and that of the subjects. Diary
of a Love Addict is seductive and makes no attempt to
apologise for its subjective nature, and nor should it. Handwritten
text adds further to create a monograph that is thought provoking,
philosophical, challenging, tactile and sensual.
Diary
of a Love Addict is published as a 120 page hardback book
that, at 24.4 x 1.3 x 30.5 cm, allows plenty of space for the images,
and accompanying text, to be displayed in a manner that does them
full justice, as does the quality of the printing and heavy weight
paper. To further add to the aesthetic nature of the book and work,
the page corners
are 'rounded' rather than the usual sharp edges.
Diary
of a Love Addict is a beautiful, honest, very human, emotionally
charged work that rewards repeated viewing. I simply love this book
and have become 'addicted' to it. It is a five star monograph that
I urge you to seek out and add to your collection.
Review
by Christopher John Ball
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