Artist Talk & Book Signing with Jamie Schofield Riva
Monday, January 8, 2024 from 6 to 8pm
Please join us for a book signing of Jamie Schofield Riva's newly released book Girlhood: Lost and Found. Jamie will also be in conversation with artist and former art therapist Coe Fauteux, discussing how the creative-arts modalities serve as therapeutic tools to repair damaged self image and facilitate healing.
This intimate conversation will include personal experiences and explore female stereotypes, self identity through self portraiture, societal standards of beauty, the aging process, and what determines/shapes our idea of beauty. The discussion will focus on how these ideals were formed and what we can do to liberate ourselves from them.
A book signing will follow the discussion, copies of Girlhood: Lost and Found will be available for purchase.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Girlhood: Lost and Found explores the experience females face growing up and growing old in a world full of preconceived notions of what it means to be a woman. Lost objects coupled with intimate portraits of the artist and her daughter mirror one another, examining the desires women abandon to conform to unrealistic ideals in our culture, often losing sight of their identities as they maneuver society’s stereotypes. The discarded items offer the opportunity to reflect on what unreasonable expectations both the artist and the female collective can also leave behind, providing a chance to rediscover who they were before they learned how they were seen by the world.
The book's forward is written by Elinor Carucci, a multi-award winning fine art photographer with work featured in many solo and group exhibitions and museums worldwide, as well as an impressive number of publications internationally.
A group essay included in this publication shares thoughts from a variety of women ranging in age from 13-81 years old, including artist and filmmaker Laurie Simmons, renowned actor and musician Jill Hennesy, 2018 Guggenheim Fellow and educator Rania Matar, founder of wellness platform MWH Melissa Wood-Tepperberg, the artist’s daughter and son, Luna and Sergio Riva, and many more.
ABOUT THE ARTIST/AUTHOR
Jamie Schofield Riva is a documentary and fine art photographer based out of New York City. Jamie’s photographic career really began at the age of seven when she saved up enough cereal box tops to mail away for her first disposable cardboard film camera. She has not stopped documenting her life and the world around her ever since. After moving to New York City to study photography, she received a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Although photography was her first love, after graduating she switched roles and ended up in front of the camera. Her many years working as an actor and model have given Jamie a keen insight and sensitivity to what it means for her subjects to be in front of the lens, which helps create a natural connection that is palpable in her photos. Jamie eventually embarked upon the greatest adventure and most challenging job in her life, motherhood.
When her children started school Jamie did as well, furthering her photographic studies at The International Center of Photography in NYC, and reigniting her love affair with the art form personally and professionally. Since then, in addition to her documentary work and fine art projects, Jamie has had work featured in multiple publications such as Click Magazine, Shots Magazine, and the online publication Pearl Press. She has also participated in exhibitions such as “Metro Textures” which showcased street photography from around the globe, and “Cit.i.zen.ship: Reflections on Rights” which reflected on human rights and notions of citizenship. A portion of work from her long term project (and book) Girlhood: Lost and Found was also shown in the Photoville exhibition in NYC in 2019.
Jamie also had work featured in the International Center of Photography’s “#ICP Concerned: Global Images for Global Crisis” exhibition. This work was also included in the book that followed by the same name, which features documentary work responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. In May of 2021, her work was projected onto the Brooklyn Bridge as part of Photoville and The Dumbo Improvement District’s unique exhibition “At Home Heroes: An Homage to Parenting Through a Pandemic in NYC.”
Most recently she has had work shown in the outdoor exhibition “My Park Moment” in San Francisco, which honored the joyful and healing experiences created by spending time in the great outdoors put on by Photoville in collaboration with Partnership for the Presidio and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
With great excitement Jamie announced the release of her first book Girlhood: Lost and Found in October 2023, published by Daylight Books. This body of work explores the many ways women are forced to navigate a world full of female stereotypes as they grow up and grow old. It is fueled by her great desire to examine how unrealistic external influences shape women’s identities, and questions who they might be if they never endured society’s pre-programming. She is currently participating in invited lectures, workshops, and artist talks discussing the timely subject matter the work tackles, with the intention of creating non judgemental spaces for the
kind of positive change that can come from perspective shifts, unlearning, and supportive truth-telling of the stories that live in our hearts and art. Inspired by creating conversation and connection through storytelling, Jamie is always looking forward to the next creative adventure.
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To learn more about Jamie or her amazing new book GIRLHOOD: Lost and Found please visit her website and social media posts.
Website: https://www.jamierivaphotography.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamie.schofieldriva/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.s.riva/