The interest behind this work

When in a bookstore I often feel slightly disturbed by covers of books. Not any one element seems to be overwhelmingly disturbing but many different varieties of disturbance appear from shelf to shelf. Most often the books which hold the most palpable charge are those on the display tables. I think this is because as the viewer we know that someone chose to place the book just so and in the vicinity of the books nearby. These books have been chosen because the covers are attractive and will instigate the buy-reaction in book shoppers. We feel attracted to the image on book covers--some books I feel attracted to yet I also feel repulsed by at the same time. I often find contradictions walking through the store. Most of the time I feel drawn to the eyes of the author or main character who is shown on the cover. Because so many people are involved in the making, designing, writing, publishing and distributing of the book--so many people had a hand in placing the face there in the store who stares up from its mausoleum of story-telling or poetry. Maybe they are not mausoleums as much as tributes, or lasting legacies, gifts from the dead (and the living). This is another sort of disturbance, less brutal, more subtle and harder for me to understand. It may be the fear of death. A book is a legacy, a photo is a silent memorial. But a photo on the cover of a book is an indication that this person left behind a story. However, only showing the face is taking the image out of context of its story, stripping it of its legacy. I have compiled the results of many long strolls in bookstores into a sequence (though others could be found) it is true to the kind of patterns I noticed in the bookstores.