y the elegant defacement of his own cover of Purple, Mark Borthwick simultaneously negates and reclaims a publication with which he is widely identifi ed. But Social documentaries amid this pist is neither an appropriation or a parody. It is, rather, a compilation of photography and text that serves as an introduction to a complex body of work that defi es easy description; perhaps urban pastoral might do. I prefer to think of Mark as a closet romantic who messes with form; wether it be the printed page, a garment, a sound, or an event. Primarily a person with a camera, a democratic, Warholian logic pervades Mark’s thinking. Something like; “If this girl is beautiful, then shouldn’t this one be?”, or, “If we admire a dress for its shape and lines, can’t we admire the sidewalk for the same reasons?”, etc. Mark also likes to give his subjects things to do-like hold this plant/pillow/ or entire rack of dresses.

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