OFF DAYS by Tatum Shaw

In Off Days, photographer Tatum Shaw pulls back the curtain on the idyllic suburban American dream, revealing the droll, sobering, and faintly ominous reality resting just below the surface. Shot entirely on black-and-white film, this series began as a casual, unprompted aside—images made on the artist’s "off days" from his commercial color projects. However, as the world entered a period of unprecedented global isolation, the project’s drained palette and disquiet tone took on new meaning.

Focusing primarily on the Southern United States, Shaw’s photographs capture people and places that are neither idealized nor embellished. Instead, Off Days immerses the viewer in a carefully crafted visual world that feels simultaneously funny, confusing, and deeply vulnerable. Featuring text by Tim Davis, this book serves as an eloquent, unflinching examination of the contemporary American vernacular.