Family is a poetic exploration of the universal theme

of family, a subject which has had a long connection with

photography since the medium began in the nineteenth

century. Curated by Sophie Spencer-Wood, this book is

a collection of 175 photographs taken by photographers,

famous and lesser known, of their own families. It is an

intimate study of the relationships - tender and awkward,

knowing and innocent - that take place between adults and

children in the family unit. Recognizable and relevant to

us all, these emotions are linked in a symphonic sequence

moving from one photographer to the next. With an

introduction by Henri Peretz and notes on the photographs

by Margaret Walters, Family draws on the same impulses

that compel us all to take pictures of our own families.

Sophie Spencer-Wood is a picture editor and researcher.

She worked as assistant to Bruce Bernard on Phaidon Press's

award-winning book Century (1999). She also worked

on Gandhi and Freedom : An African-American Struggle

for Phaidon Press, which were published in 2001 and

2002 respectively.

Henri Peretz is a sociologist and writer. Associate Professor

of Sociology at the University of Paris VIII, he is author of

Les méthodes en sociologie : l'observation (1998), contributing

writer for The Table of Power by the photographer Jacqueline

Hassink (1996) and he also contributed to the exhibition and

book Magnum Landscape , published by Phaidon Press (1996).

Margaret Walters is a critic, writer and broadcaster. She has

written extensively about the visual arts and culture, and has

broadcast frequendy on the BBC. In 1976, her book, The Male

Nude : A New Perspective , was published to much critical

acclaim. She currently reviews novels for The Sunday Times.