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Interview with Beth Yarnelle Edwards

Muriel Adrien et Beth Yarnelle Edwards

Résumé

The following interview was conducted during the exhibition of photographs by Beth Yarnelle Edwards entitled ‘Rêves de banlieue’ at the Photon laboratory in Toulouse (from 10 April to 24 June 2025). The exhibition was curated by Christian Caujolle, artistic director of the Galerie du Château d'Eau in Toulouse. Beth Yarnelle Edwards' website can be found here: https://www.bethyarnelleedwards.com

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Texte intégral

I would like to express my gratitude to Beth Yarnelle Edwards for accepting this interview and for granting me permission to use her photographs.

Photographic career and approach

Muriel Adrien: Can you describe your career in a few words?

Beth Yarnelle Edwards: Because I began my career at a later age than most artists, I would say it has been unexpected but exciting.

M.A.: How would you describe your photographic approach and style, in general?

B.Y.E.: My photographic approach is collaborative. I spend a lot of time with people before making the images. The actual photographs begin by my choosing the frame and having my subjects improvise based on an idea about their lives that we’ve agreed upon. When a scene appears that resonates, I ask them to freeze in position. I want my photographs to be like genre paintings—a scene from daily life frozen in time.

Figure 1. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Colby, California, 2001

Figure 1. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Colby, California, 2001

© BethYarnelle Edwards

B.Y.E.: My style is hyperreal. Working with light, saturation and contrast, I hope to create an “ aha ” moment in the mind of the viewer, to cause them to suddenly see something in a way they haven’t seen it before.

Figure 2. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Katherine, California, 2006

Figure 2. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Katherine, California, 2006

© BethYarnelle Edwards

Preparing for the project

M.A.: Where did this project come from: what prompted the idea of doing this series?

B.Y.E.: Suburban Dreams began as my thesis project for graduate school. It was preceded by a small-format black and white series of the same name. However, the first series was completely fictional. I would ask friends and acquaintances to act out my ideas about contemporary culture. That work appeared in The New Yorker and Harper's.

Figure 3. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Hillsborough n°1, California, 1996

Figure 3. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Hillsborough n°1, California, 1996

© BethYarnelle Edwards

M.A.: What were you looking for?

B.Y.E.: With the new series, I was looking to move into color and larger format and to feature real people’s stories. I wanted to give viewers a look into the lives of blue-collar, middle and upper-middle class residents of Silicon Valley.

M.A.: Did you already have images in mind before taking them?

B.Y.E.: No, I always stay open, and even if I already know the person/people, I ask questions and observe. Often an idea pops up that’s a surprise for all of us.

M.A.: Can you describe your project (dates, duration, sponsors or grants)? In concrete terms, how did you go about it?

B.Y.E.: The oldest pieces in the series date to 1997, when I was in a Master of Fine Arts program. Although I haven’t added to the series in the last few years, it is open, so I may return to rephotograph past subjects as I did in Suburban Dreams Revisited. In the Toulouse exhibition at Photon, there are photographs of the same three sisters made in 2000 and 2017.

I’ve won a number of awards, including CENTER’s Project Competition Winner in 1999 and the SIRP Grand Prix in France (Salon International de la Recherche Photographique) in 2000. There have also been sponsored residencies beginning at Château d’Eau in Toulouse in 2003 and later in The Netherlands, Germany, and Spain. My photographs have also been acquired by many museums. A few are the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum of California, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Musée de la photographie in Charleroi.

The major thing I did to assist my career was to attend Fotofest in Houston, Texas a few times, beginning in 1998. There one could show one’s portfolio to a variety of curators, publishers, gallerists, etc. From Fotofest, I received a number of offers and connections, both from the formal reviewers and the photographer friends I made there. It was Jan van Leeuwen, a Dutch photographer, who suggested I send my photos to the SIRP.

Themes of the photographs

M.A.: Why did you focus on the middle class, the suburbs and why California? Have you tried to do the same thing for other social groups or in other parts of the United States?

B.Y.E.: I found myself living on a hilltop in the suburbs of Silicon Valley and feeling bored. I longed for the energy, excitement and cultural offerings of a big city. However, I realized that many considered this lifestyle idyllic—they were living the Suburban Dream. I decided to investigate with my camera.

Figure 4. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, John, California, 2000

Figure 4. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, John, California, 2000

© BethYarnelle Edwards

A few years ago, I began but quickly ended a project photographing undocumented immigrants in their California homes. I feared that with facial recognition technology in use, I could endanger their status.

Figure 5. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Bible, California, 2014

Figure 5. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Bible, California, 2014

© BethYarnelle Edwards

I have worked in a similar manner in Europe, and while most of the people I photographed there were middle-class, not all lived in suburban situations.

Figure 6. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Marvin, Mannheim, Germany, 2007

Figure 6. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Marvin, Mannheim, Germany, 2007

© BethYarnelle Edwards

M.A.: Why did you go back to the same places with the same characters 20 years later?

B.Y.E.: I was curious to see how they were living so many years on. It was easy and fun with people who had been children or young adults the first time around. Their lives had expanded; their spaces were vaster; they had more control over their lives than they’d had before. However, with people who were older the first time around, it was difficult, or even unsuccessful, because now they were ill or had much less energy, making it difficult to collaborate.

Figures 7 and 8. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Lilah, age 5, California, 2004 and Lilah, age 17, California, 2016

Figures 7 and 8. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Lilah, age 5, California, 2004 and Lilah, age 17, California, 2016

© BethYarnelle Edwards

M.A.: Would you revisit the same people today, or do a similar project?

B.Y.E.: I will most likely continue to rephotograph at least a few of my Suburban Dreams subjects, and I am available to do similar work by commission.

I’ve recently worked on two new projects which also focus on the home. Curb Appeal features house exteriors without the residents present. Color Theory reveals close-up details in private homes, again without the residents being seen.

M.A.: How and according to what criteria did you choose your characters and interiors?

B.Y.E.: Since the project began as an experiment with color, size, and the real nature of my subjects’ lives, I started with what was easiest, most available, and most comfortable for me: I photographed children and adult friends. However, as soon as I began to gift subjects their signed, editioned prints, others, often strangers, asked to participate. So eventually many of my subjects were strangers to me and several degrees removed from the original person.

During artist residencies in Europe, I wasn’t able to choose my subjects. I photographed the people whose names I was given. For example, in Toulouse, there was a sign-up sheet in my exhibition at Château d’Eau in 2003 for people who wanted to be photographed when I returned in the summer. In Mannheim, a secretary sent a notice to all government employees that I was doing “ free family portraits ” (I was chagrined to hear that after I had finished the project). In the Canaries, the architects whom I was working with pre-selected the homes and subjects, an interesting range from squats and public housing all the way to luxury homes.

M.A.: Did you get them to pose?

B.Y.E.: For straightforward portraits, I had people pose. But their position was usually based on a posture I’d observed when we were just chatting or walking around the house.

For dynamic scenes, I would set the frame with my camera and then ask my subjects to improvise how they would normally act in the given situation. As I mentioned before, I’d ask them to freeze when they arrived at what I felt was an authentic moment. With some, this would happen quickly, but with others I would have to shoot quite a while until they finally relaxed into their natural selves.

Figure 9. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Lilian and Grace, California, 2001

Figure 9. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Lilian and Grace, California, 2001

© BethYarnelle Edwards

M.A.: Did you stage or retouch the interiors?

B.Y.E.: Usually not other than choosing the frame. However, if something was distracting (reflecting in an odd way or impeding the view), I might make minor adjustments.

M.A.: Why did you focus on interiors and very little on the sitters’ outdoors?

B.Y.E.: Interiors reveal much more. Suburban home exteriors can be bland and uniform.

The exception would be lower-middle-class or blue-collar homes. There is a more DIY practice in those neighborhoods, so people aren’t afraid to paint their house a crazy color, create topiaries, or put statues or other objects in front. I call these homes “ personalized.” In higher-income neighborhoods there is pressure, and sometimes community rules, to conform, to have one’s house painted a neutral color and not have anything too interesting out front. For that reason, my Curb Appeal series mostly features blue-collar homes.

M.A.: How are people defined by their interiors?

B.Y.E.: That depends. Someone who puts a lot of time into their decor reveals more than someone who does little. I loved photographing children because if they had agency, their rooms became shrines to their dreams and interests.

M.A.: The majority of the photographed persons are women: is this deliberate?

B.Y.E.: That was not a deliberate choice. I think it happened because women are more willing to be photographed. They are more comfortable being seen, or at least they are more accustomed to being looked at.

The modus operandi, the aesthetic choices

M.A.: How did you approach the people you photographed?

B.Y.E.: At the initial meeting, I followed a detailed protocol. It began by showing samples of my work while I discussed my interests and intentions. I explained how final images were selected and where the resulting photographs might be seen. I told subjects that if we succeeded in creating a portfolio image, they would receive a signed and editioned print. I then answered questions and had subjects sign a model release.

If people agreed to participate, I requested a house tour and asked questions about their lives at home.

I have a number of strategies that I use to ensure authenticity. I ask open-ended questions and observe carefully. If I’m not getting what I believe is an honest response, I back out. For example, I once visited a wonderful home full of antiquities and strange objects. Friday night dinners were important to the family, so the mother usually wore a special outfit including a hat. Since we were going to feature her at a family dinner, I planned to have the family of four sit as they would normally—one person at each side of the table. But the man refused. He wanted to sit next to one of the kids so that he wouldn’t have his back to the camera. That would have looked ridiculous and been dishonest. There was another situation with a man who drove a Hummer, a vehicle popular during the war in Afghanistan. I wanted to show him with his car in front of his house, but he wanted me to photograph him at the beach so that it would look like a car ad. I backed out again. Interestingly, this has only happened with men.

Figure 10. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Don, California, 2002

Figure 10. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Don, California, 2002

© BethYarnelle Edwards

M.A.: How many photographs did you take, and how many did you keep?

B.Y.E.: In the beginning, I usually took three rolls of 220 film, so that would be sixty negatives from a shoot. Digitally, I shot about the same amount. There is a two-fold reason for so many shots. First, it was to insure everything is sharp, eyes are open, etc. Second, it often took a while for people to relax into a natural posture or expression.

I have usually selected one portfolio image from a shoot although I am currently intending to revisit my archive and print images I’ve overlooked.

M.A.: What criteria did you use to select the images, both for your book and for the exhibition?

B.Y.E.: I didn’t select the images in the exhibition though I was given veto power to eliminate a few. I’m very happy with the selection made by Château d’Eau though I would have liked to include a few of the photographs I made in and around Toulouse as some are very similar to ones made in California. I’m not sure of the exact number but Château d’Eau’s collection includes more than 55 of my photographs.

My book includes photos from Silicon Valley as well as five European countries. Because it’s often impossible to know the location without reading, I purposely left off labels. To discover where an image was made, one must look at thumbnails in the back.

For the book, I chose the images I thought were best and that presented a broad range of activities as I worked with designer Loreen Muller at Keher Verlag in Heidelberg. Some photographs appear alone while others are in pairs that visually or thematically compliment each other. Loreen and I usually agreed, but I had to insist on putting the Icelandic country western singer Halljborn, who single-handedly introduced American country western music to Iceland, with the little girl dressed as Pocahontas by explaining the American trope of Cowboys and Indians (Native Americans).

Figure 11. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Haley, age 5, California, 1997

Figure 11. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Haley, age 5, California, 1997

© BethYarnelle Edwards

Figure 12. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Hallbjorn, 2009

Figure 12. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Hallbjorn, 2009

© BethYarnelle Edwards

Your links with art history and representatives of photography

M.A.: Who are the photographers that are for you, if not role-models, then artistic references, whether in relation to the theme or in general? Can you talk about the connection of their work with yours?

B.Y.E.: My goal is to create narrative images that are rich not only in content but are also aesthetically pleasing. There are several photographers I count as artistic references.

Like August Sander, I’m interested in class and social type. I’m also a great admirer of the authenticity of his photographs. The body language, attitude, and facial expressions of his subjects are completely real. That isn’t easy to achieve.

Figure 13. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Art and Carol, California, 1997

Figure 13. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Art and Carol, California, 1997

© BethYarnelle Edwards

Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s lighting is amazing. I like his narrative skills and the slightly sinister quality of his work.

I count Jeff Wall as my strongest influence. I love his complex narrative images as well as his references to painting. When it works with the situation, I have enjoyed including painting references in my work.

M.A.: Do you see yourself as heir to a certain photographic tradition, and if so, how do you fit into it?

B.Y.E.: Though based on reality, my images are clearly staged. Staged photography has existed almost as long as the camera. It might seem new over the past few decades, but it’s been with us all along. You could also call my work docu-fiction as it combines truth with fabrication. Other practitioners of this tradition include Tina Barney, Carrie Mae Weems, and Larry Sultan.

M.A.: Are there other artists whose influence you can spot in your pictures (painters, film-makers, movies about American surburbia…)?

B.Y.E.: I didn’t explain earlier that I entered the world of art late and through the back door. I had a master's degree in English and specialized in teaching English as a Second Language at the university level. I first explored photography in my early forties when I was thinking about writing articles on contemporary culture. I had no formal art education at the time but of course had unconsciously absorbed the art I had experienced at museums, galleries, on television, etc.

The stongest painting influence in my work comes from the Dutch genre painters. For the first time in Europe, the activities of daily life at home were featured in painting. I consider my work to be a modern version of genre painting.

Regarding film, I would say Cinema Noir is an influence as I gravitate toward dramatic lighting and a bit of mystery.

Figure 14. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Barbara, California, 2001

Figure 14. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Barbara, California, 2001

© BethYarnelle Edwards

A very strong influence, and one that may be a surprise to the reader, is Mexican culture and aesthetics. I lived in Mexico for just under two years when I was nineteen and twenty. I believe that time was formative for the way I see and the way I think. I’m strongly drawn to vivid color, and high contrast as well as to the theatrical and surreal. The idea of different realities coexisting is interesting to me. Another thing about living in Mexico is that by having to learn a new language and culture, I came to look differently at my own. It wasn’t something I took for granted anymore.

While I find John Updike’s books to be genius, suburbia as a subject is often distorted in film and literature. Please believe me that not all American serial killers live in the suburbs! I’m sure there are fair representations, but American artists truly love to stereotype and demonize suburbia. To the best of my ability, I’m trying to show you the real thing.

Your purpose

M.A.: Is there a purpose behind this series, a message you are trying to convey?

B.Y.E.: My purpose is to give the viewer an opportunity to look inside the world of my subjects. As I’ve mentioned, my work is staged, but I endeavour to make it as real as possible. I was honored when one of my photographs was selected for the cover of an academic textbook, Making Suburbia : New Histories of Everyday America, published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2015. When I asked why my photograph was chosen, they said that of all the published photographic work they could find on suburbia, they found mine to be the most authentic.

Figure 15. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, cover illustration for by John Archer, Paul J. P. Sandul, Katherine Solomonson (eds), Making Suburbia. New Histories of Everyday America. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 2015

Figure 15. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, cover illustration for by John Archer, Paul J. P. Sandul, Katherine Solomonson (eds), Making Suburbia. New Histories of Everyday America. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 2015

© BethYarnelle Edwards

M.A.: What kind of feelings do such domestic interiors and such characters exude, according to you?

B.Y.E.: It completely depends on the individual image. I don’t have an agenda that suburban homes or residents all evoke the same vibe. I have images that are lighthearted, images that are sad, images that are scary, and of course, I hope, images that are funny. The households vary from blue-collar to upper-middle class, and the people inside the homes have different beliefs and values.

Figure 16. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Marisa, California, 2000

Figure 16. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Marisa, California, 2000

© BethYarnelle Edwards

M.A.: What kind of tone and atmosphere are imparted by your images?

B.Y.E.: I’ve said before that my style tends toward the dramatic and the hyperreal. The purpose is to get the viewer to really look, and I hope to impart a truth at the same time.

Figure 17. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Carlie, California, 2001

Figure 17. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Carlie, California, 2001

© BethYarnelle Edwards

M.A.: Is there irony? For instance, Norman Rockwell pictures line the wall above the bed in one of the pictures: are these pictures deliberately embedded to convey a mirror effect (a “mise en abyme”)?

B.Y.E.: Yes, I agree there’s irony in that image. Let me tell you the story. When I arrived for our first meeting, the couple told me that there was nothing interesting to photograph in their home. I responded that I was sure we would find something interesting together that was true to them. When I asked what they did on a typical week night after work, they said that a couple nights a week, they would watch games that they’d taped, and instead of dinner, they would eat snacks on their bed. Their pets always joined them, and since the cat was lying upside down during my entire interview, I asked them if they thought the cat would do that for the photo. They said, “ Sure ! ”

Figure 18. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Bruce and Melissa, California, 2000

Figure 18. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Bruce and Melissa, California, 2000

© BethYarnelle Edwards

As we made a plan for me to return and make the photo, the woman told me she had some pictures she was planning on putting up in the room, and she wanted to know if they would they be okay. I was absolutely delighted when I saw what she had planned for the wall. I couldn’t have chosen better myself, but I didn’t choose it—they did. And that’s my point.

M.A.: Does your own interior resemble theirs? How does it differ?

B.Y.E.: After ten years living in San Francisco, I am once more in the suburbs, but this time just minutes from the city, so I believe I have the best of both worlds.

My interior is different from any I’ve photographed. Our living room, dining room, and hallway are painted a dark neutral gray to feature our art collection, which is primarily photography but also includes painting and sculpture. Most of our collection was made by friends or people with whom I’ve traded.

We have three pieces of art furniture made in the 1990’s. Our dining room table is shield-shaped (like a rounded triangle), with a glass center and a twisting metal sculptural base. Jeff Bennedetto, the artist, named it “ Edwardian Table Top.” There are two more pieces by Jeff—a credenza made of industrial materials and a ziggurat/book shelf/room divider made from a single piece of redwood. The floors are dark-stained wood, and the rest of the furniture is mid-century or minimalist in style.

The kitchen, which we remodeled several years ago, has bright green and yellow tile, speckled beige counters, dark wood and white cabinets, and a built-in booth with upholstered benches and a vivid orange table. Where you don’t see cabinets or tile, the walls are a light gray-green. While we manage to keep the living and dining rooms fairly tidy, our kitchen table and benches are usually covered with stuff. From a bay window we can see our back yard. It’s my favorite place in the house.

M.A.: Do you think your images can be disturbing? If so, how so?

B.Y.E.: I have heard that my images are disturbing, but it depends on who is looking. I had the opportunity to sit anonymously in the gallery at my solo exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California. Viewers on whom I eavesdropped were fascinated by the rooms and objects in the photos and were saying things like, “ My sister has that tv… .” They were clearly not disturbed, nor were they responding to the work as a whole. They were comparing what they saw to their own lives.

Viewers with a sociological or anthropological lens might find this work disturbing because of the material excess it reveals. One person’s dream may be another person’s horror.

Figure 19. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Kati, California, 2001

Figure 19. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Kati, California, 2001

© BethYarnelle Edwards

M.A.: Do you think your images are still relevant in terms of the current middle-class in California?

B.Y.E.: I could probably make similar images today though the people in the homes might be older. Silicon Valley has become even more expensive over time. Those who purchased their homes or apartments decades ago can comfortably remain, while new people are challenged to get a foothold. There is something we call “ house rich.” A blue-collar worker who already owns a home has a sizeable investment as well as low property taxes. They can stay, while someone with more education and a greater income is priced out and may decide to leave the area.

I don’t think the dream of having a large and comfortable home has changed, but people may be seeking it elsewhere. I also believe there is a new movement rising in which people will voluntarily downsize and acquire fewer possessions, but that doesn’t seem obvious in Silicon Valley yet. For example, my son, who lives in Manhattan, is content to occupy a relatively small space and not have a car. He is also very careful not to accumulate a lot of stuff.

M.A.: What do you think of the middle class in the United States today?

B.Y.E.: I think that the American middle-class is in crisis. Over the last few decades, the distribution of wealth has become more and more extreme. The rich are much richer, the poor are much poorer, and the people in the middle are sinking toward the bottom. Quality of life is plummeting with food and housing extremely expensive and health care expensive or even out of reach. It is increasingly difficult to achieve the dream.

A lot of education and luck is needed to get a stable well-paying job, and blue-collar opportunities are dwindling. The trades—electricians, plumbers, etc. pay well if there’s enough work, but there are no longer good jobs for high-school graduates without special training. We’re dealing with a corrupt new government that won by promising the impossible—the return of high-paying jobs for unskilled workers. It was an outright lie, but unfortunately one believed by many.

So we have an enormous problem with not enough available well-paid work but an even bigger problem with the dream. During my lifetime, American society has gone from a fairly realistic approach on how to live to crazy, unrealistic, and ever-increasing expectations, which are encouraged by media and propagated by society. A big home filled with stuff is just not sustainable.

M.A.: Have you done the same thing in other countries and what are your thoughts and feelings about your pictures there?

B.Y.E.: In general, I found the European households I photographed less materialistic though there were many that could be mistaken for American ones. An interesting difference was the presence of many more books and fewer screens.

Figure 20. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Michelle and Luc, near Toulouse, 2003

Figure 20. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Michelle and Luc, near Toulouse, 2003

© BethYarnelle Edwards

I have enjoyed working in Europe, meeting the people, and learning about their lives. I’ve found a level of honesty or self-awareness that I don’t always find at home. I’ve been delighted with the playful spirit with which many of my European subjects have approached my project.

How your artwork was received

M.A.: How have your models responded to your photographs?

B.Y.E.: Responses vary. Some people can’t wait to frame the photos and put them on their walls, and some others just pack them away. I believe, however, that most everyone is pleased to have taken part in the project.

M.A.: Why do you exhibit this series in France? Why Toulouse?

B.Y.E.: I mentioned earlier that I won an award in France in 2000, which included an exhibition. That led to more offers in France and the invitation by Jean-Marc Lacabe to present my work at Chateau d’Eau in 2003. Chateau d’Eau now owns a considerable number of my pieces (at least 55) and loans them out for exhibitions.

M.A.: How are your photos viewed in France, as far as you can tell? Are they looked at differently than in the States?

B.Y.E.: I think my work is regarded more carefully in France. I remember being astonished meeting a couple of young men who had seen my exhibition elsewhere and asked me a lot of questions. They seemed to have memorized many details from my photos.

I feel like there has been more curiosity in France. When I first visited potential photo subjects there, I began with my usual protocol, which included a statement (necessary in the US) that while I wasn’t there to make a glamour image, I wouldn’t purposefully make someone look bad either. French subjects would wonder why I was bothering to say this. They were most interested in what I might discover in their homes. That attitude extended throughout Europe, but in the US, I have had people ask me to make them look thinner or photograph their “ good ”side, so I’ve had to be very direct about my intentions.

There is something else I want to mention. A French friend who attended the vernissage at Photon Gallery heard some viewers say that they thought the people in my photos were Trump supporters. That’s absolutely not true. California tends to be very liberal, and even though there are famous billionaires supporting Trump, in general his supporters are less educated and less affluent than Democrats. I would guess that no more than twenty percent of the households I photographed would have voted for Trump, and generally those would have been the lower-income families.

Your perception of European photography 

M.A.: What are your thoughts about photography on either side of the Atlantic? Is there a difference in the photographic approach? Or a difference in terms of networks and dissemination of one’s body of work?

B.Y.E.: There is much more support for photographers in Europe. I have friends who live in subsidized artist housing. Others receive stipends and government assistance with projects. I’m not suggesting that artists live high on government support, but it does make it possible to create and exhibit one’s work without having another full-time day job. There are also many paid opportunities–doing workshops with high school students, municipal projects, etc. While we do have grants in the US, they are few and highly competitive. I know that funding for the arts is tightening up in France, but to me it still seems extremely generous.

M.A.: Have you exhibited in the UK? If not, why not? If so, in what context? How did the British reception of your artwork differ or not from the French and American reception?

B.Y.E.: Yes, I had a solo exhibition at the Heresford Photography Festival in 2002 and a group one in 2010. My work is on the cover of Masquerade: Women’s Contemporary Portrait Photography, which was published in 2006. An accompanying group exhibition took place at the Midlands Art Center in Birmingham in 2005 and at Photofusion Gallery in London in 2004. The British response was quite enthusiastic.

What’s next for you?

B.Y.E.: Mining my archive for overlooked Suburban Dreams images, completing the Curb Appeal project I mentioned earlier, and continuing shooting for Color Theory.

Figure 21. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Cactus Camouflage, California, Curb Appeal series, 2017

Figure 21. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Cactus Camouflage, California, Curb Appeal series, 2017

© BethYarnelle Edwards

Figure 22. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Masks, Color Theory, California, 2024

Figure 22. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Masks, Color Theory, California, 2024

© BethYarnelle Edwards

M.A.: Are there any other questions you would like be to asked?

B.Y.E.: No, but thank you for the opportunity to share my ideas about my work.

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Table des illustrations

Titre Figure 1. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Colby, California, 2001
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-1.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 94k
Titre Figure 2. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Katherine, California, 2006
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-2.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 57k
Titre Figure 3. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Hillsborough n°1, California, 1996
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-3.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 101k
Titre Figure 4. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, John, California, 2000
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-4.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 67k
Titre Figure 5. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Bible, California, 2014
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-5.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 93k
Titre Figure 6. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Marvin, Mannheim, Germany, 2007
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-6.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 74k
Titre Figures 7 and 8. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Lilah, age 5, California, 2004 and Lilah, age 17, California, 2016
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-7.png
Fichier image/png, 726k
Titre Figure 9. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Lilian and Grace, California, 2001
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-8.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 124k
Titre Figure 10. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Don, California, 2002
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-9.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 89k
Titre Figure 11. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Haley, age 5, California, 1997
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-10.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 128k
Titre Figure 12. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Hallbjorn, 2009
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-11.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 180k
Titre Figure 13. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Art and Carol, California, 1997
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-12.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 86k
Titre Figure 14. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Barbara, California, 2001
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-13.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 26k
Titre Figure 15. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, cover illustration for by John Archer, Paul J. P. Sandul, Katherine Solomonson (eds), Making Suburbia. New Histories of Everyday America. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 2015
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-14.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 95k
Titre Figure 16. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Marisa, California, 2000
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-15.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 98k
Titre Figure 17. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Carlie, California, 2001
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-16.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 169k
Titre Figure 18. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Bruce and Melissa, California, 2000
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-17.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 88k
Titre Figure 19. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Kati, California, 2001
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-18.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 129k
Titre Figure 20. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Michelle and Luc, near Toulouse, 2003
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-19.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 101k
Titre Figure 21. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Cactus Camouflage, California, Curb Appeal series, 2017
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-20.png
Fichier image/png, 1,0M
Titre Figure 22. Beth Yarnelle Edwards, Masks, Color Theory, California, 2024
Crédits © BethYarnelle Edwards
URL http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/docannexe/image/27764/img-21.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 66k
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Muriel Adrien et Beth Yarnelle Edwards, « Interview with Beth Yarnelle Edwards »Transatlantica [En ligne], 2 | 2025, mis en ligne le 01 décembre 2025, consulté le 16 février 2026. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/27764 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/15i2j

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Auteurs

Muriel Adrien

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Beth Yarnelle Edwards

Associate Professor, Toulouse II Jean Jaurès University

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