Tiny Vices: Amelia's World

Robin Schwartz (b. Passaic, NJ, 1957) makes meticulously composed, disquieting portraits of her daughter, Amelia, interacting with a range of exotic animals, from monkeys to kangaroos. Her startling portraits reference painting and hint at open-ended narratives. Her work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among other institutions. Her photographs have appeared in the New York Times, Fader, Interview, and the Los Angeles Times. Her other books include Like Us: Primate Portraits (W.W. Norton, 1993) and Dog Watching (Takarajima Books, 1995).

Francine Prose is the author of eleven novels, including Blue Angel, which was nominated for a 2000 National Book Award. Her most recent books include Reading Like a Writer, A Changed Man, After, and The Lives of the Muses: Nine Women and the Artists They Inspired.