Tara Bogart

n 2011, during a visit to Paris’ Bibliothèque nationale, Tara Bogart saw the photograph Marie Laurent (1865) by Nadar and was immediately intrigued. The photograph, taken from behind, was of a young woman whose hair was held up by an ornate clip. Five months later, she began the series that became A Modern Hair Study. »I couldn’t stop thinking about what that same image would look like today. A Modern Hair Study consists of portraits of young women photographed from behind. By focusing on the back, the viewer is forced to contend with all of the peripheral things that make each woman unique. In these intimate portraits I am a voyeur concentrating on a generation that is not mine. While certain ideals are often relevant to different generations, the ways in which women adorn and modify themselves often indicate the struggles of a young adult with their own ideology and individuality. After photographing these women, I can imagine these struggles are timeless. Existing today as well as when the original Nadar portrait was taken.«Tara Bogart has exhibited at Elizabeth Houston Gallery, Hous Projects, Aperture, New York, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, and other venues. Her work is in the J. Crew Art Collection, collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, among others.