Photographer Kerry Mansfield, who we first became aware of via Hyperallergic, makes photographic art out of library books and check-out cards, with a twist: she’s fascinated and compelled by the wear and tear placed upon them by passing years, and their passage from reader to reader. On her website, she notes that “each one was chosen for specific characteristics that best display the love poured into library books over their years on the stacks.” Her “Expired” series, which is currently comprised of 175 photographs, has been collected into a beautifully bound volume (though we’d love to see what it will look like after a few years in a library); you can buy it on her site, and she was kind enough to share a few images from it for this gallery.
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
Courtesy of Kerry Mansfield
The Expired book is currently available on Mansfield’s site in either a trade edition, or as a limited edition box set.