"Marine, the Last Day of Summer #2, Montalivet, France"

gelatin silver print

signed, dated and titled on verso

Probably the most famous motif of the US photographer Jock Sturges. The image is on the cover of his first book The Last Day of Summer from 1991 and later in 2000 on the cover of the book Jock Sturges: New Work 1996-2000.
The Last Day of Summer brings together 60 black and white photographs depicting mostly nude girls and young women. Dioe images were taken at the nude beach in Montalivet, France, including the girl in the picture named Marine. Sturges does not see his paintings as sensual, erotic, or even pornographic; on the contrary, they are primarily intended to show beauty, fragility, and transience. In the U.S., however, Sturges' office was raided by the FBI in 1990 over allegations of child pornography, and his paintings and equipment were confiscated in the process. These accusations could not be sustained.
(Christoph Fuchs)