Title: Traces of Time, walking the Jardins de l’Abbaye de la Cambre in summer
Author: photography and text by Alexandra Huddleston
Link to Downloadable Press Release
Traces of Time explores how walking – in particular walking in a park – influences our perception of space and place. Through a close, meditative, and pedestrian observation of the built and biotic landscape of one of Brussels’ most beloved parks – the Jardins de l’Abbaye de la Cambre – this work highlights the small, almost imperceptible, hourly and daily transformations that mark time’s passing. The work was photographed in August and September of 2021 while Alexandra was an artist in residence at the Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain. The resulting book is a hand-bound, limited edition artist’s book that centers around eight photographic sequences, interspersed with large, single images.
“To hold one of Alexandra Huddleston’s exquisite books in your hands is to hold an object that radiates truths illuminated by silence and keen observation. Each page of the book is its own work of art. The respect with which Alexandra approaches the people and landscapes she photographs shines through her work.”
- Judy Tuwaletstiwa, visual artist, writer and teacher, New Mexico, USA
“Traces of Time” artist book, flip-through video
Status: published, November 2022 / SOLD OUT
Imprint: The Kyoudai Press : Blind Cat Valentine LLC
Photographs: 41
Text: introduction to the project Traces of Time
Language: English
Medium: Hard-cover, Japanese stab binding, archival ink jet printing
Size: 9.75 inches high by 14.75 inches wide by 0.625 inches thick (247 mm by 375 mm by 16 mm)
Note: Each copy is printed and hand-bound by Alexandra Huddleston
Edition: 5 (+ 1 artist proof)
View all photographs as a portfolio HERE
About the Author
Alexandra Huddleston is a photographer, writer, and walking artist. Her most recent projects describe landscape as a space of dynamic change. It’s a vision gained by walking thousands of miles in the last two decades. Alexandra brings motion through time and space into her work, expressing what it’s like to be within an ever-changing landscape. Through this process, she has radically expanded how landscape is represented photographically.
Alexandra’s research into the impact of walking on perceptions and depictions of landscape is conducted both independently and with the support of art organizations like Cow House Studios, Ireland and Cill Rialaig, Ireland. Between 2009 and 2014, she walked thousands of kilometres on pilgrimage in Spain, France, and Japan – solitary journeys that led to her current walking art practice. Most recently, she explored the Rurban landscape in the Netherlands during a masterclass at the Jan van Eyck Academie (2019) and photographed the project Traces of Time while an artist in resident at the Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain (2021 Belgium).
Alexandra presents her work to the public through her books, exhibitions, and lectures. Her books are collected in libraries around the world, including the British Library, the Brooklyn Museum, Harvard University’s Hutchins Center Library, New York University’s Bobst Library, and University of Cape Town’s Oppenheimer Library. As creative director and co-founder of the Kyoudai Press, Alexandra’s major publications include Lost Things (2012), 333 Saints: A Life of Scholarship in Timbuktu (2013), East or West (2014), Vertigo (2016), and Traces of Time (2022).
Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and Bamako, Mali, her upbringing has led her to explore landscape and culture from an international and interdisciplinary perspective. Alexandra holds a Masters of Letters in Fine Art Practice from the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland. She studied broadcast and print journalism (MS) at Columbia University, USA and fine art and East Asian studies (BA) at Stanford University, USA.
