The French word ‘?a’ translates as ‘it’, and also refers to the Freudian id, that seething cauldron of urges and desires. The book ?a offers a headlong dive into the unconscious, where our innermost desires and anxieties hibernate. In this monograph on the uncanny, visions of childhood, dolls, deflated balloons, body parts and exhausted tubes of lubricant collide against an unsettling backdrop of neat gardens and houses. All occurs under the all-knowing gaze of a faceless man – ghost, priest or mental patient – whose ominous presence permeates the book.
About the photographer Nicolas Chow is the international head of Chinese ceramics and works of art at Sotheby’s and a deputy chairman of Sotheby’s Asia. He is a photography enthusiast with a keen interest in the Surrealist aesthetic.
