Catherine Opie’s fascination with photography began at the age of nine, when she took several self-portraits – including at least one of her imitating a bodybuilder – with her first camera. After writing a book report about Lewis Hine, who photographed child labourers at the turn of the 20th century, she became interested in documentary photographer. At 14 she had a darkroom at home and was taking photographs of friends and schoolmates and, in 1991, when she was 30, that she made her name with Being and Having, a series that depicts the queer community of Los Angeles and owes as much to Hans Holbein as it does to Robert Mapplethorpe. This retrospective in Edinburgh, which has travelled from the National Portrait Gallery in London, includes pictures of high schoolers, sports players, political rallies and Opie herself (8 August–1 November).
Find out more from the National Galleries of Scotland’s website.
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