Family Values included in ArtNet News‘ round-up of the ten best photo books of 2024.
Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love have been written about, talked about, and photographed a million times. What’s different about Family Values: Kurt, Courtney & Frances Bean is the intimate look into the duo’s daily lives as parents. Ironically, this book was released just a few months before Frances Bean welcomed a son of her own, with her husband (and skate royalty) Riley Hawk.
In September 1992, Vanity Fair published an infamous article that portrayed Kurt and Courtney as drug-addled parents, quickly becoming a PR nightmare for the family. In response, the couple sought to do a more positive interview with Spin magazine, written by friend/Sub-Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman and photographed by Guzman, the husband/wife photographer duo of Constance Hansen and Russell Peacock. During the photo shoot at Kurt and Courtney’s Los Angeles home, Guzman provided a source of ease and comfort for the couple, who were understandably wary of many photographers at this time. Originally, only five images were published to accompany the Spin feature; the rest of the photo shoot’s images are seen in this book for the first time.
In a statement, Guzman looked back, saying, “Slowly, a narrative of two transcendent artists beside their most tender creation began to unfold upon the studio wall—and those are the images that appear in this book.” With text by music journalist and Nirvana historian Michael Azerrad, this book is a must-have for any true Nirvana fan. —Kenneth Bachor
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