"Take Care of Yourself" by Sophie Calle

Take Care of yourself is an art project by Sophie Calle, it exists in exhibition form but also in a book form. Calle is a French writer, photographer, installation artist and conceptual artist.

Although this book has been described as an artist book, I think it's also possible to look at it as a photo book. Not only because (obviously) it has a lot of photos in it, I also think the photos are of great significance for the context of the book.

The book as an object

Size: 30,4 x 21,5 x 4 cm

Materials: Different kinds of paper (matte, glossy) but there's also CD's inside and braille

Binding: Hardcover (printed and bound in Italy by Graphicom)

Pages: 420

Cover: Photo by Jean-Baptiste Mondino

Content and Context

What is it about?

The project “Take Care of Yourself” started with an email that Calle received, telling her it was over. The email ended with the words “Take Care of Yourself” Not knowing how to respond to this, Calle decided to ask 107 women, chosen for their profession or skills, to interpret this letter. To understand it for her. To answer for her. She describes it as a way to take the time to break up, a way to take care of herself.

Why was it made?

After receiving a break up email, Calle is left with a feeling as if it almost hadn't been for her. She doesn't know how to respond. After asking two friends to read the email and react to it, she came to the idea of asking women of all sorts of professions to react to this email. This project was made to make sense of something that didn't make sense at first.

Who made it?

Sophie Calle, French writer, photographer, intallation artist and conceptual artist. Graphic design is by Raphaëlle Pinoncély.

Does the book express an interesting vision on book design?

Purpose

For whom was the book made (what audience, what edition)?

Relation and Form

Title Presentation of photographs on the page Montage and Narrative Image-text relations Typography