Title: Wanted Beautiful Home Loving Girl
Artist: Cheryl Mukherji
Edition: Limited edition of 100 copies
Format: Clothbound hardcover artist book
Size: Approximately 4 × 6 inches
Page Count: 120 pages
Binding: Smyth-sewn binding with linen-covered hard case, accordion fold.
Printing: Offset
Texts: A Proposal: Women in Matrimonial Photographs by Cheryl Mukherji
Marriage Material by Frances Dorenbaum
Design: The Office of Technical Aesthetics (tota)
Publication Date: March, 2025
Location: Self-published in New Delhi, India
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.
