'Intimate Portraits' melds painted photos and essays of Provincetown

Tamora Israel, The Provincetown Banner, November 17, 2021

"To live by the water and to be able to be around beauty, for me, has always been a priority," said Barbara Cohen, writer and artist behind "Our Provincetown: Intimate Portraits," the newest book to be published by the Provincetown/New York artist. 

"Somehow the beauty is very soothing," said Cohen.

"Our Provincetown: Intimate Portraits," published by the Provincetown Art Press, is a deep collaboration with the aesthetic of Provincetown, said Cohen. The book is a collaboration of 60 writers describing their favorite and beloved places in Provincetown with each writing coupled with a oil painted picture done by Cohen.

Dorie Seavey, co-editor of "Our Provincetown: Intimate Portraits," describes the project as "an incredible collection of voices talking about their favorite places in Provincetown. Their most special spots, and it's accompanied by these really creative painted Polaroids and together it's this magical symphony of voices and images that I think really evokes the spirit of Provincetown."

The Polaroids that Seavey is referring to are actually 4X6 instant Fuji film.

Cohen goes out into the town and photographs each place the particular writer is referring to. The photograph is then manipulated over with oil paint that is draw onto the film, outlining certain areas to create a sense of drawing, said Cohen. 

How it started

Cohen described the creation of "Our Provincetown: Intimate Portraits" as a needed expression. "I have a certain longing inside of me to express the beauty about this place," said Cohen. Seeing herself as more of a visual artist, "I'm not a writer, I'm highly visual. The way that I portrayed this book was to get a combination of the writer and the visual," said Cohen.

Cohen has been photographing in Provincetown for years but it wasn't until she spoke to a friend about their favorite place in town that the journey for this book started to take shape. It was a place that she had never explored before, a path behind the bicycles on the way to Herring Cove Beach, said Cohen

Cohen found herself exploring that part of Provincetown for the first time, finding it to be extraordinary, "It was like an oasis," said Cohen. "That was the very first idea of combining really good writers, and asking them to write me a paragraph of a visual that I would take. I found places that were unknown to me." 

It was a wonderful project, Seavey said.

"Barbara asked me to help start working on it back in August of 2020. This was a book that grew out of the darkness of COVID," said Seavey. "The way she made it happen was to ask people, one at a time, if they would like to write something about their favorite spot or their most beloved memory and then essays began to trickle in."

A love story

There was something about the pandemic that made Provincetown more intense, Cohen said. "I felt a love and desire for Provincetown; the book is a love story."  

So too with Seavey.

"I'm just in love with the book. It has, for me, a magic and a depth to it that stirs up everything I have ever felt about Provincetown and to create a collection of voices, a sort of a community testament to the town is just a wonderful thing," she said.

What's next?

"Even if you've never been to Provincetown, it's something that can be read by anyone," said Cohen. 

"I think it's a really special project and I hope that people notice it and take the time to explore the book, the writings and the images. I hope that it can show people the specialness of Provincetown," said Seavey.

A book signing of "Our Provincetown: Intimate Portraits" is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 20, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Mary Heaton Vorse House located at 466 Commercial St.