The Last Day of Summer

"In the fifty-eight images of this handsome ... monograph, Sturges sustains a delicate balance on a very precarious wire ... His struggle is to observe and render his subjects in all of their complexities, trembling on the cusp of change. The result of this long-term, communal effort is one of the most clear-eyed, responsible investigations of puberty and the emergence of sexuality in the medium's history, making a metaphor of the metamorphosis from child to adult." --A. D. Coleman, The New York Observer In 1990 the FBI entered Sturges's studio and seized his work, claiming violation of child pornography laws. Citizens, artists, and the media responded with outrage. With The Last Day of Summer, Aperture accords Sturges's vision the dignity and respect it so richly deserves. Essay by Jayne Anne Phillips. Paperback, 9.5 x 11.5 in./96 pgs