Nadia Lee Cohen and Martin Parr's New Book is an Ode to '90s Essex

Summary

• British photographers Nadia Lee Cohen and Martin Parr drop Julie Bullard photobook published by IDEA.
• Featuring over 100 photographs, Cohen plays the semi-fictional Julie, her childhood babysitter whom the book is named after.
• The book launches on May 15, and is available via IDEA and Dover Street Market.

Nadia Lee Cohen and Martin Parr are coming together for a quintessentially British collaboration. Published by IDEA, the artists’ latest photobook braids Parr’s photojournalistic knack with Cohen’s romantic worldbuilding, offering a hard-edged slice of small-town Essex.

Titled Julie Bullard, the book takes its name after Cohen’s childhood babysitter of the same name, cited as her “first encounter with glamour.” We get a rare glimpse of the photographer in the frame, bringing to mind Hello My Name Is – perhaps her most famous body of work – which saw the artist shapeshift into 33 different characters, prosthetics and all. Here, she takes on the role of the semi-fictional Julie in a series of scenarios: from cooing a crying baby in waitress garb to posed, chin-up and wedding-ready in full 90s glam.

Realized through Parr’s signature, anthropological capture, the photojournalist expands on his exploration of British identity, this time, veering into fictional realms. The over 100-piece collection is housed in a book that emulates a seventies family photo album, completed with faux leather board covers and a vintage gold metal binding.

Julie Bullard is set to release on May 15, just in time for Photo London, and will be available for purchase via IDEA and Dover Street Market.