Untitled
Date1990
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 20 × 16 inches (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
Image: 18 3/4 × 12 3/4 inches (47.6 × 32.4 cm)
Portfolio/Series"Printed Matter Photography Portfolio 1. Portraits"
Credit LineGift of Zoë and Joel Dictrow.
Object number2012.12.7
Copyright© 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextAfter photographing tombstones in a cemetery in California in the late 1970s, Sophie Calle decided to become an artist. She recalls this decisive moment taking place in the darkroom, when the inscriptions "Brother," "Sister," "Mother," "Father," "Orphan" materialized on the prints, and she found herself fascinated by the resulting play of image and text. This photograph notably evokes these artistic beginnings, as well as Calle's longtime fascination with death and ritual, and use of games and language in her practice. Here, a funeral plaque is juxtaposed against a checkered backdrop reminiscent of chess or checkers, poetically evoking the game of life and its inevitable conclusion.
