Doors at 6:00pm · Conversation at 6:30pm
First Light Books, Hyde Park

When Lauren Shaw was a girl in the American South, she'd watch her mother get ready for a night out. Hairspray first, then a careful dab of silver glitter along the hairline with one fingertip. Her mother kept herself immaculate for decades, every dress bagged and every shoebox stacked, all of it a quiet defense against time. When Alzheimer's arrived, that defense started to come apart, and years later Shaw found herself asking what her own aging body might have to say.

The answer is Traces of Impermanence, a stunning photobook that marks Shaw's return to the camera after two decades of documentary filmmaking. Join us for a slower, more reflective conversation about bodies, gardens, and memory. Shaw will be joined by Austin bookbinder Jace Graf of Cloverleaf Studio.

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how to attend

This event is free and open to everyone. RSVPs help us plan.

If you'd like a guaranteed seat, purchase a copy of Traces of Impermanence through the event page and we'll hold a reserved seat for you. Lauren will be signing after the conversation.

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about the book

Traces of Impermanence looks closely at what time leaves behind. Shaw photographs her own body as it ages, with its scars, bruises, and marks, and pairs those images with photographs from the natural world: blooms opening, leaves turning, things breaking down and beginning again. Seen side by side, they tell a story about resilience, vulnerability, and the strange grace of a life fully lived. The book includes Shaw's own reflections on aging alongside essays by celebrated art critic Lucy R. Lippard and writer and activist Terry Tempest Williams.

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about the author

Lauren Shaw is a photographer and filmmaker and Professor Emerita of Photography at Emerson College in Boston. She earned her MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she studied with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind, and co-founded New England Women in Photography. Her work is held in the permanent collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art, Harvard's Fogg Museum, and the Library of Congress, among others. Her multimedia project Maine Women: Living on the Land traveled across the country, and her documentary films, including Angkor's Children and Routine Interrupted, have screened at festivals, on public television, and at the Smithsonian. Shaw lives in Boston and visits Austin often, where her daughter and family live.

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about the conversation partner

Jace Graf owns and runs Cloverleaf Studio, a book arts studio in Austin specializing in hand bookbinding, boxmaking, and book design. He earned a graduate degree in book arts from Mills College and spent five years at BookLab, then the country's leading edition bindery, before founding Cloverleaf in 1996. His work is held in private collections, library special collections, and museums nationwide, and he has bound fine press editions for Suntup Editions.

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