The Barbara Becker Hat Collection
Roelof Bakker and Sven Jurgen
Artist’s book, 2026
In self-portraits created with my American friend Sven Jurgen in 1986 when I was 21, I became Barbara Becker, modelling impromptu hats made using a cushion, a hand towel, a white sheet and other bits retrieved from my bedroom.
So much of what we remember is different to how it was. In the book, the photographs are presented as mirrored double images, reflecting the past back at the viewer. Which is the original?
The accompanying text responds to recent research resolving unanswered questions about Michael Deary, my first boyfriend who died in 1986 of AIDS-related illnesses.
Forty years ago, being Barbara helped me contextualise the madness and horror of that time, Barbara like a guardian angel looking down on me. So much has happened since. But I will never forget Michael Deary.
This 24-page postcard-size book is bound by hand using cotton thread.
The Barbara Becker Hat Collection is available from Negative Press London at https://tinyurl.com/4h2v3aux
24pp, 14.8 x 10.5cm. Printed in England on FSC-certified recycled paper. Handbound in cotton thread. Published 2026.
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