The first rite of passage upon learning how to write one’s name
was to inscribe it on a library check-out card promising the
book’s safe journey and return. I remember reading the list of
names that had come before me and feeling that I was a part of
this book’s history and it’s shared, communal experience
exposed by curly-Q handwritten names revealing repeat
customers devouring the book beyond it’s deadline. An act of
declaration that’s dissolving faster than we can see as cards are
removed permanently and bar codes take their place.
The Japanese term “wabi-sabi” is described as the art of finding
beauty in imperfection and of accepting the natural cycle of
growth, decay and death. Unlike the American culture focused
on spectacle, wabi-sabi is underplayed and modest, the kind of
undeclared beauty waiting patiently to be discovered. It’s found
in time-worn faces of expired library books that have traveled
through many hands, and across county lines until they have
reached their final resting place at ex-library warehouses where
safe harbors are found in Costco-sized rows of “discards” rising
within inches of the ceiling.
Each picture serves as an homage calling out palpable echoes
etched into the pages by a margin-scrawled note or a yellowed
coffee splatter. They show the evidence of everyone that has
touched them, because they were well read and well loved. Now
they have a new life, as portraits of a unique shared experience
found only in a library book. We must take time to celebrate the
swiftly disappearing, unique communal experience offered by
library books as it’s quickly replaced by downloads and finger
swipes. If you listen carefully you can hear the aching poetry
calling from tattered pages that carry the burden of their years
with dignity and grace.
Kerry Mansfield is a San Francisco based photographer whose artwork explores time and how it affects our perceptions of what we see. Her work has been exhibited globally and garnered numerous honors including LensCulture?s Single Image Award, multiple World Photography Organization and IPA Awards, and a Critical Mass Finalist multiple times. A host of press and publications, ranging from the PDN Photo Annual to the New York Times LensBlog, have featured several of her bodies of work. Her Expired series monograph was just released in fall 2017 receiving great reviews and the PX3 Bronze Award.
