Of Mud and Lotus

Of Mud and Lotus is a photobook by the Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen, published by Artbeat Publishers, Tokyo, in an embroidered hardcover limited to 1,000 copies.

The 108-page book gathers colour photographs that draw on Sassen's recurring interests — the body, shadow, colour and abstraction — worked through in images that move between documentary observation and staged composition. Design is by Shigeo Goto and Yoshihisa Tanaka, with editing by Sawako Fukai, and the embroidered cloth cover is treated as part of the work rather than incidental packaging.

Sassen trained first in fashion design before turning to photography, and her work now moves fluidly between fashion commissions, gallery exhibitions and self-directed long-term projects, often shaped by her childhood years in Kenya. Of Mud and Lotus belongs to the more personal, art-book side of that practice, produced in the small-edition, design-forward format Artbeat Publishers has used across several of its artist titles.