Candid polaroids of trailblazing female artists from FKA Twigs to Yoko Ono celebrate creative heroines

We often talk about the ‘godfathers’ of a creative practice. Alfred Hitchcock is the godfather of cinema. Nas is the godfather of Hip Hop. Frank Lloyd Wright is the godfather of 20th century architecture. But what about the women? We often forget the godmothers of our industries who not only led the way for more women to enter creative roles, but fundamentally inspired and changed the nature of their chosen practice.

A new book from Prestel Portrait of an Artist is attempting to highlight these innovators through equally creative means by way of Hugo Huerta Marin’s intimate and candid polaroid photography. The pages feature the likes of Yoko Ono, Tracey Emin, Annie Lennox, Debbie Harry, and Miuccia Prada – just to name a few – culminating in a minimalistic hardback of never-before-published interviews. Marin has spent over seven years on the project, collecting interviews as he travels to these women’s homes and workspaces around the world.

“Portrait of an Artist,” says Marin, “is a project inspired by remarkable female artists that shifted the culture by shaking the structures of our established belief systems. They have no rules. They break all the borders. And their voice should resonate throughout the new generations of artists.”

Within its pages we can read about the difference between acting for stage and for screen from Cate Blanchett, the relationship between race and photography from Carrie Mae Weems, and we hear from the founder of Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo.

Marin is the creative director to Marina Abramović. The New York-based multidisciplinary artist’s work usually revolves around gender and creativity in society. “For thousands of years, the portrait has served to depict the idols of ancient civilisations — kings, deities, emperors, and heroes,” Marin’s book opens. What is evident here is the lack of emphasis on our heroines of history. Thus through the form of the portrait, Marin hopes to hold these women up on equally deserving pedestals.

His book is portable in size to reflect its intimate nature and hopes to not only act as a platform for each individual woman’s interview but come to reflect in its entirety the impact of women on the creative industries. The book is published by Prestel, out 7 September.