The Use of Photography

Praise

“The tangles of clothing and shoes serve as a form of divination of life and nothingness, light and dark. This is an intimate, beautiful, and evocative pairing of image and word, voice and viewpoint, love and ritual.” —Donna Seaman, Booklist

“This is my favorite book by Annie Ernaux. An overwhelming story about love, death, desire and illness. Everything is extraordinary here, unforgettable. We do not come out of this very intimate text unscathed.”—Abdellah Taia, author of A Country for Dying

“The Use of Photography is a fascinating collaboration between lovers Annie Ernaux and Marc Marie, alternating entries riffing on the photographs of compositions of their clothes in various rooms, tracing the duration of an affair, kindred to the conceptual photobooks of Sophie Calle. Except this description doesn’t get at the vitality of this document, its passion and melancholy, which takes on Ernaux’s usual themes, this time with a surprising interlocutor—a meditation on the daily and ephemeral, mortality, the knowledge and history of the body. Not only does this 2003 text prefigure the epic meditation on photographs in The Years, but it’s also where Ernaux writes, devastatingly and intimately, of her breast cancer treatment.”—Kate Zambreno, author of Drifts and The Light Room

“Ernaux’s books aren’t beautiful, suspenseful, or psychedelic. Their pleasure is cerebral, self-reflexive—and grossly invested in watching a mind tear itself apart, only to survey its pieces from an emotionless distance.” —Alina Stefanescu, Los Angeles Review of Books

“In 2003, Ernaux began a passionate relationship with her co-author, Marc Marie. At the time, Ernaux had been undergoing chemotherapy treatment and was about to have surgery for breast cancer. The author soon discovered that her physical desire for Marie was matched by an equal desire to take pictures of the “material representation[s]” of their sexual encounters. When she told Marie that she was photographically recording the “[clothing] compositions…that organized themselves according to unknown laws, movements and gestures,” she learned that he had felt a desire to do the same. In this book, Ernaux pairs 14 of the more than 40 photos they took together with two essays, each produced independently of the other, by the author and by Marie. The photos record colorful “landscape[s]” left in the aftermath of encounters that took place over several months in multiple locations, including various rooms in Ernaux’s home and foreign hotels. As they describe each “scene,” the essays provide details about Ernaux and Marie’s developing relationship, like how they spent their time together on the day of the photograph or the songs they chose to represent “the elusive succession of their days.” With her trademark clarity and simplicity, Ernaux’s essays also grapple with her struggle to come to accept both her diagnosis and the physical changes brought about by her cancer treatments, like baldness, loss of body hair, and scarring. The result of the pair’s unique word-and-image collaboration is a deeply poignant yet also celebratory expression of eroticism. Luminous and reflective writing in the face of death.” —Kirkus

“Nobel Prize winner Ernaux (The Young Man) and French journalist Marie recount their early-2000s affair through the lens of 14 photographs in this tender and evocative memoir. The pair met in 2003, when Ernaux was recovering from surgery and undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. After their first few sexual encounters, Ernaux began photographing the aftermath, resulting in lush, jumbled, and erotic images punctuated with lurid red lingerie or a pair of upright shoes that seemed to suggest a ghostly presence. In alternating chapters, Ernaux and Marie analyze photographs from that period, discussing the specter of death that hung over their trysts (at one point, Ernaux bought herself a funeral plot), the sweet devotion Marie felt for his ailing ‘mermaid woman,’ and eventually, the end of their relationship. Each author’s candor—about their sexuality as well as the importance of such an intense connection at that crossroads in their lives—is remarkable, and is enhanced rather than obscured by the framework of photographic analysis. The results are generous, steamy, and unexpectedly moving.” —Publishers Weekly

“In The Use of Photography, first published in 2005, Ernaux and journalist Marc Marie document their affair, through text and photos, as Ernaux is undergoing cancer treatments. A must-read for lovers of words, images, and Ernaux herself. So… everyone?” —Jessie Gaynor, LitHub, Most Anticipated Books of 2024

“The Use of Photography by Annie Ernaux and Marc Marie, translated by Alison L. Strayer… [A] new book from the 83-year-old French writer, who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2022, is a literary event, and this 2005 work, now translated, is no exception.” —Tom Beer, Kirkus

“I think this voyeuristic glimpse into Ernaux’s life made this one of her most vulnerable reflections in writing.  It’s made even more so by her sharing the narrative during a time when she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.  I found a lot of feminine joy and power in these pages as they look back on a new love affair.  It reminded me of when photography was less accessible and more intentional, and by consequence how intimate these photos and impressions of them are.” —Danielle Smith, Auntie’s Bookstore in Spokane, WA

“Annie Ernaux never fails to astound.  The Use of Photography is more of an art piece than a book. The story of an affair told by both parties through and about photos of their scattered clothing, both Ernaux and Marie eschew mythologizing to speak with stunning candor about their relationship. Additionally, though spare, Ernaux’s insights about her cancer treatment are some of the most frank I’ve read. This book is a gem.” —Laurel Kane, White Whale Bookstore in Pittsburgh, PA

“To throuple with two icons—no, that’s too simple. But this work, like all of Ernaux’s work, feels profoundly generous, an invitation into the most intimate enclave formed at the intersection of passion, memory, love, and death. Conceptually fascinating and artistically surprising, moving, hopeful, and brilliant.” —Kristen Iskandrian, Thank You Books in Birmingham, AL

“Two writers—also lovers—take photos of their clothes scattered on the floor, and use their favorites as entry points into a dual-timeline of a love affair clouded by illness and mortality. Through alternating memories of those captured moments, we get a fuller, more prismatic portrait of their relationship, taking place during Ernaux’s diagnosis and then treatment for breast cancer. Normally I’d balk at having to cede any of my beloved Annie’s precious page space to anyone else, but Marie’s writing is thoughtful and tender, and his appreciation for his partner’s craft shines through his sections. This is a special project—a movingly romantic book about age, cancer, the glorious moments amid the mundanity when you’re with someone you love. For the certified lover girls!!!!” —Rachel Knox, Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg, FL