"One Man's Body Family Album" (2020) - Limited Edition Photo Book 12"x12" - 32 pages

The pictures in Nathan Cordova’s third publication, "One Man’s Body Family Album", continue his visual exploration of his complex relationship with his father who passed away in 2015, while being present to his mother’s process of dying in 2018. Nathan utilizes original black and white photographs, hand lettering, and archival maps sourced from areas of Spanish colonialism in California, where he lives, to construct evocative, handcrafted, zines and art-objects.

Nathan Cordova comes from a family of storytellers with deep roots in Colorado and New Mexico. Facing familial violence and trauma, he photographs the landscapes and people that have shaped his identity. His pictures question the legacies of Spanish colonialism, Catholic patriarchy, Manifest Destiny and white-supremacy and explore the legacies of ancestor worship, oral storytelling, collective identity, activism and mutual aid. The images make visual these lasting legacies in order to deconstruct dominant culture and facilitate intergenerational healing.

Each zine is made using a Pioneer brand burgundy photo album measuring 12”x12”x1.5”. Each contains 19 original B&W prints (ten 9”x7” and nine 4”x5”). All elements are archival, and come in original album box.

Each object also contains 4 archival road maps each measuring 16”x20” when fully open. The front is an archival inkjet print of an original B&W photograph measuring appx. 18”x10.5”. The verso contains original journal text written in the artist’s own hand. All elements are archival. The zine is signed and editioned. The edition is 100.