Close to the Bayou
Artwork and Text by Dimitri Staszewski
Design and Concept by Caleb Cain Marcus
luminositylab.com
Published by Workshop Arts
Book documentation by The Book Photographer
Artist Statement
Close to the Bayou uses photographs made between January and March of 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The work chronicles the internal journey of Thomas Mann, a prolific artist, who continues making work at a fervent pace as he undergoes prostate cancer treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
Mann has served as an uncle figure and artistic mentor to Dimitri Staszewski for Staszewski’s entire life. Images are paired with writing that explores Staszewski’s lifelong relationship with Mann and examines what Mann facing mortality means for both of them.
The work explores themes related to cancer, sickness in isolation, artmaking and mortality, and male intimacy.
Exactly one year to the day after beginning to help Mann through his experience with cancer, Staszewski received a cancer diagnosis of his own a couple of months before his 30th birthday. During that process, he was forced to relearn what he thought following Tom’s experience had taught him.
Artwork and Text by Dimitri Staszewski
Design and Concept by Caleb Cain Marcus
luminositylab.com
Published by Workshop Arts
Book documentation by The Book Photographer
Artist Statement
Close to the Bayou uses photographs made between January and March of 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The work chronicles the internal journey of Thomas Mann, a prolific artist, who continues making work at a fervent pace as he undergoes prostate cancer treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
Mann has served as an uncle figure and artistic mentor to Dimitri Staszewski for Staszewski’s entire life. Images are paired with writing that explores Staszewski’s lifelong relationship with Mann and examines what Mann facing mortality means for both of them.
The work explores themes related to cancer, sickness in isolation, artmaking and mortality, and male intimacy.
Exactly one year to the day after beginning to help Mann through his experience with cancer, Staszewski received a cancer diagnosis of his own a couple of months before his 30th birthday. During that process, he was forced to relearn what he thought following Tom’s experience had taught him.
Artwork and Text by Dimitri Staszewski
Design and Concept by Caleb Cain Marcus
luminositylab.com
Published by Workshop Arts
Book documentation by The Book Photographer
Artist Statement
Close to the Bayou uses photographs made between January and March of 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The work chronicles the internal journey of Thomas Mann, a prolific artist, who continues making work at a fervent pace as he undergoes prostate cancer treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
Mann has served as an uncle figure and artistic mentor to Dimitri Staszewski for Staszewski’s entire life. Images are paired with writing that explores Staszewski’s lifelong relationship with Mann and examines what Mann facing mortality means for both of them.
The work explores themes related to cancer, sickness in isolation, artmaking and mortality, and male intimacy.
Exactly one year to the day after beginning to help Mann through his experience with cancer, Staszewski received a cancer diagnosis of his own a couple of months before his 30th birthday. During that process, he was forced to relearn what he thought following Tom’s experience had taught him.