Nadia Lee Cohen‘s latest book focuses on a subject close to home.
In Julie Bullard, a photography concept tome co-produced by the artist and film director alongside the renowned British photographer Martin Parr, Cohen pays homage to one of her earliest sartorial influences: her childhood babysitter, whom the book is named after. The 128-page offering serves as a glossy time capsule of early ’90s Essex, England; the artist wanted to revive and reimagine parts of her upbringing “like a slice-of-life movie” through carefully curated vignettes.
Cohen is no stranger to creating larger than life worlds, whether through her cult-favorite 2020 photo book Women or her avant-garde collaborations with the likes of Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey, A$AP Rocky, Kim Kardashian, and more. Her work has always focused on celebrating the inner dynamics of women, from global superstars to a really cool teen babysitter.
“[It reads] more like a soap,” Cohen tells Harper’s Bazaar of the visual tone of Julie Bullard. “Because it’s British and cozy and sometimes not a lot happens. It was based on fragmented memories and spotlighting those parts of life that aren’t usually worthy of a photograph.”
Martin Parr
Martin Parr
Martin Parr
In the book, Cohen herself portrays the part of the titular character, stepping into the slightly fictionalized shoes of Bullard while managing to make some of life’s most mundane moments look glamorous. For Cohen, partnering with Parr to help capture the imagery that makes up the project was a no-brainer, especially when it came to capturing the true essence of everyday British life.
“The project was about growing up in England,” she says. “My memories of that period look like his photographs, so he really was the only person to capture it the way it exists in my head.”
Readers will see Cohen’s interpretation of Bullard in a number of settings throughout the book’s pages; cozy condominiums, bustling wedding banquet halls, and even a funeral home are all featured settings in Julie Bullard.
“England has a lot of locations that are preserved often without intention and knowing how amazing they are,” shares Cohen. “I thought about it mostly in terms of color because that’s how I remember my childhood—different ages are different colors. Obviously the locations had to make sense but I wanted the palette to reflect those memories and also give Martin an opportunity to do what he does best and tell the story in different bursts of color.”
Martin Parr
Martin Parr
Martin Parr
Cohen’s babysitter, however, remains the book’s star. For the artist, her babysitter served as her first true introduction to the concept of glamour—that you can be an everyday person and still want to incorporate little luxuries and intentional details into your life.
“She was such a formative figure in my upbringing, and I think the catalyst for my interest in the importance of anything aesthetic,” explains Cohen. “[Her style] makes me nostalgic for the 1990’s, I never thought it was an era that you could really define, but the further we get away from it the more it becomes so distinctly recognizable.”
And while Cohen’s version of Bullard appears to die in the book (we see her laying at rest in a casket in a pristine salmon pink suit), the real life Julie Bullard is still very much alive and a part of Cohen’s life. When asked if there’s anything she’d want to say to Bullard today, her answer is simple.
“I saw her at my mum and dads last week, she came round for a cup of tea,” Cohen says. “I’d want her to know that the photos she brought round are in the post, next day delivery signed for.”
Nadia Lee Cohen / Martin Parr – Julie Bullard
