Author Description

A collectible, fine-art photography book by the much-praised author of Aftermath, One Woman is an inspired collaboration between photographer and muse. Through John Botte's masterful eye, Elicia Ho, a former ballerina, has realized a lyrical, visual diary of her becoming. The result is a stunning, dual meditation on a photographer's relationship to subject and craft, and a woman's intimate, empowering exploration of her sense of self and multifaceted identity. Botte's richly toned and beautifully lit signature images are reminiscent of the golden age of sumptuous portraiture à la Studio Harcourt and Cecil Beaton. Revealing multiple aspects of character and personality, these photographic depictions are odes to real, fictional, or historical individuals and archetypes who have inspired, formed, or shaped the life of one woman—inter alia, from her blond, nature-loving, American mother and bejewelled maternal grandmother, an anthropologist who lived with and studied Gypsies in California, to her Chinese aunties in traditional cheongsam, a bridge to her father's world; personas such as the ethereal Balanchine ballerina, or the Hollywood silver-screen siren in a nod to Veronica Lake and Lauren Bacall; from renowned performer and civil- rights activist Josephine Baker to ground-breaking artist Georgia O'Keeffe and feminist icon Gloria Steinem. An invitation to celebrate the many layers of one's own being, John Botte's captivating photographs are accompanied by Elicia Ho's insightful capsule texts about each persona portrayed in this homage to the many and varied people who, together, form the myriad facets of one woman. Also included are technical notes by Botte detailing his exclusive choice of Leica's M Monochrom camera for this body of work, as well as his use of vintage optics for the differing moods and eras evoked in these images.