Mary Mccartney: Paris Nude

Book excerpt: In July 2016, English photographer and cookbook author Mary McCartney (born 1969) traveled to Paris for a special photo shoot. Over two days, McCartney would stay with her subject, Phyllis Wang, a New York-born stand-up comedian, at Wang's Saint-Germain apartment, photographing her in the nude. A mixture of black-and-white and color images, the photographs collected in this volume speak to the intimacy and trust between subject and photographer. Laid out sequentially, the photographs show the model increasingly relax in front of the camera over the course of the shoot; Wang assumes various poses and adopts various props, and an unspoken bond gradually develops between the two women. Inviting the reader into the session's humor and intimacy, the publication features Wang and McCartney's annotations alongside the photographs, each giving their own candid account of the two days.