Art Metropole

#16488

Wanted Beautiful Home Loving Girl

Artist

Cheryl Mukherji

Writer

Frances Dorenbaum

Designer

The Office of Technical Aesthetics

Date

2025

Publisher

Self Published

Format

Artists' Books

Size

10.2 × 15.2 × 3 cm

Length

80 pp

Genre

Photography, Self-Published, Asian Art & Artists

A self-published, limited edition, artist book based on the work Wanted Beautiful Home Loving Girl, is an exploration of the histories, legacies, and conventions of matrimonial portrait photography in Indian arranged marriages. Inspired by matrimonial photographs of the artist’s grandmothers, aunts, and mother within her family albums, the work reimagines the tradition through self-portraiture and installation within domestic spaces and Indian photo studios.

Approximately 4 × 6 inches in size, the artist book references the dimensions and portability of the traditional matrimonial photograph, which is meant to fit into pockets and toted around as much as it is meant to rest on a shelf. The book design offers multiple entry-points to the reader into the work. The artist book features two essays, one by the artist, A Proposal: Women in Matrimonial Photographs, and a contribution by writer and curator Frances Dorenbaum, Marriage Material.

The artist book was designed in collaboration with The Office of Technical Aesthetics (tota), and self-published in New Delhi, India.