Author(s): Tracey Emin

Photography

"Tracey Emin: My Photo Album" is a journey through the artist's life using photographs from her personal collection. Edited from the albums she has kept from an early age, this visual autobiography contains some amazing images: Tracey sharing a pram as a baby with her twin Paul, her bus-pass photo aged fourteen, a glamour shoot as a semi-naked art student, her early successes as an artist, through to hanging out with superstars such as David Bowie and Ronnie Wood. Perhaps more than any other artist working today, Tracey Emin's work is grounded in the personal experiences and events of her life. In these poignant photographs we can examine this crossover: the moments that have shaped her, and influenced her works: from her family life to the pivotal Young British Artist movement of the 1990s. The design of the book resembles a photo album, with Tracey's handwritten captions and notes accompanying the photographs. Virtually all of the 283 images have never been published before. Taken on 35mm film, they have an intimate, visceral quality. By turn tender and extrovert, they simultaneously document both the blossoming of an artist and a unique period in art history, from a completely singular viewpoint.