Sharon Lockhart's Pine Flat (2006) takes its name from a small hamlet in the foothills of the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas, just inside the Giant Sequoia National Monument. The work itself comprises three distinct parts: a set of three photographs of landscapes; a larger set of posed studio portraits of children and young teenagers; and a 138-minute 16-millimeter film, which is itself assembled from twelve ten-minute scenes—each a single immobile take—divided in half by a ten-minute intermission. This volume in Afterall's One Work series offers a nuanced reading of Lockhart's work, with color illustrations from both series of photographs and the film.
Art historian Howard Singerman sees in Pine Flat not a straightforward portrait of a community of children or ethnography of a place. Rather, the work explores the possibility of a space for childhood in which children have the right to intimacy, innocence, and interest outside adult narratives. The children in Pine Flat are posed formally and conventionally, but the space they occupy and the identities they construct are their own. Youth culture has long been exploited, to sell itself in order to be sold to; today, the rights of children to their own childhoods are constantly eroded. In Pine Flat, Singerman argues, Lockhart proposes a place, transitory and pastoral, “where childhood might be lived differently, imagined under a different order of power and possibility.”
Sharon Lockhart's Pine Flat (2006) takes its name from a small hamlet in the foothills of the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas, just inside the Giant Sequoia National Monument. The work itself comprises three distinct parts: a set of three photographs of landscapes; a larger set of posed studio portraits of children and young teenagers; and a 138-minute 16-millimeter film, which is itself assembled from twelve ten-minute scenes—each a single immobile take—divided in half by a ten-minute intermission. This volume in Afterall's One Work series offers a nuanced reading of Lockhart's work, with color illustrations from both series of photographs and the film.
Art historian Howard Singerman sees in Pine Flat not a straightforward portrait of a community of children or ethnography of a place. Rather, the work explores the possibility of a space for childhood in which children have the right to intimacy, innocence, and interest outside adult narratives. The children in Pine Flat are posed formally and conventionally, but the space they occupy and the identities they construct are their own. Youth culture has long been exploited, to sell itself in order to be sold to; today, the rights of children to their own childhoods are constantly eroded. In Pine Flat, Singerman argues, Lockhart proposes a place, transitory and pastoral, “where childhood might be lived differently, imagined under a different order of power and possibility.”
In celebration of Caribbean American Heritage Month in June, we are sharing a collection of books by Caribbean American and Caribbean authors that includes fiction, memoir, non-fiction, and history. Find a full collection of titles here.
On Monday, May 5, three Penguin Random House authors were honored with a Pulitzer Prize. Established in 1917, the Pulitzer Prizes are the most prestigious awards in American letters. To date, PRH has 143 Pulitzer Prize winners, including William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Josh Steinbeck, Ron Chernow, Anne Applebaum, Colson Whitehead, and many more. Take a look at our 2025 Pulitzer Prize
In June, we celebrate Black Music Appreciation month and the influential Black musicians and artists who have brought entertainment to their communities and beyond, and inspired others to make their own art. Collection of titles for Black Music Appreciation Month
In June we celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual + (LGBTQIA+) Pride Month, which honors the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. Pride Month is a time to both celebrate the accomplishments of those in the LGBTQ+ community and recognize the ongoing struggles faced by many across the world who wish to live
