Erin C Alexander
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erinalexander.bsky.social
Erin C Alexander
@erinalexander.bsky.social
730 followers 200 following 580 posts
Book collector, collagist, cat enthusiast

https://afterwordbooks.bigcartel.com/
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erinalexander.bsky.social
It’s getting chilly here and I’m eager to pull out all my vintage winter wear!

Sure is nice to finally put my fabulous coats and wools to use, no more languishing away in a SoCal closet ❄️
Vintage plaid pants with a yellow label reading Tiger’s: formula for fit, F.S. Tiger Company, Chicago Illinois
November 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
First light snow of the season ❄️
Fallen yellow leaves on grass with a light covering of snow
November 9, 2025 at 3:17 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
🍂🍁❄️🌨️
Red and yellow autumn leaves on green grass with a light covering of snow
November 9, 2025 at 3:17 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
“A very perfect gentle knight”
A memorial plaque on a stone wall, featuring a carved portrait of a young man in military uniform. Below the portrait is an inscription reading: “In loving memory of George Braddyll Bigland of Bigland, 2nd Lieut 1/4 Kings Own Royal Lancs Regt (The Fifty First Division) killed in action June 15 1915 aged 23 years & 7 months leading his platoon in an attack at Festubert in France where his body now rests buried on the battlefield. R.I.P. A very perfect gentle knight. This tablet is placed here by the proud mother of her only son.”
November 8, 2025 at 4:51 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
🤤🤤🤤
Detail of stained glass illustration printed on transparency paper, bright colors and lots of human figures, the page displays a glossy sheen
November 7, 2025 at 5:14 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
This book includes 46 full color plates printed on transparencies and they’re simply to die for 😍
Book cover for the title Stained Glass in French Cathedrals featuring a large rose window on top and lancet windows below, against a black background
November 7, 2025 at 5:14 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
“Erin's work lingers in a space where the familiar begins to feel strange. A calm surface rippling with something darker underneath. We invite you to scratch the surface and discover what lies beneath...”

All four of my zines are now available through Afterword Books:
A photo of four zines laid out titled Where People Enjoy Eating, Untamed, Danse Macabre, and A Violent Life
November 7, 2025 at 3:14 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
This trip gave me my first real opportunity to photograph stained glass. I can’t say I was super successful (about 1 in 8 came out properly) but after getting some helpful tips from photog friends I am certainly eager to try again! 📸
Stained glass window depicting three figures: King Charles I in the center, flanked by St. Oswald on the left and St. Alban on the right
November 6, 2025 at 4:35 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
The Green Man misericord at Cartmel Priory
Green Man misericord carved in 1440 at Cartmel Priory, Cumbria.
November 5, 2025 at 10:54 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
A continuation of the review that reads: Erin found a perfect partner in crime in Tosh Berman who wrote the accompanying text. Not only is he willing to scratch that vulnerable surface but his observations and questions regarding the photos go in such intriguing and unexpected directions. He imagines the possible back stories, the cultural meaning, and the sexual tensions between the assailant and the target of mishap. Not only does he explore the "private relationship" between the parties involved in the scenario but also who is the audience? Who is taking the photo? Who is directing the scene? Who gets to see these photos? How innocent is all of this and how complicit are we the viewers/voyeurs? Tosh is like Alice who doesn't think twice about jumping down that mysterious rabbit hole and finding that things are curiouser and curiouser. I like to think that in a hundred years from now someone will find a copy of this book in a wonderful used bookstore of the future, and they will wonder what the hell is this all about.
November 5, 2025 at 7:02 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
Incredibly flattered to receive such a wonderful Goodreads review by such a talented artist
A 5 star goodreads review that reads: I've been following Erin Alexander on Instagram for several years now where she posts her fascinating finds. She's a voracious collector of ephemera from the past - books, documents, photos and assorted oddities. She has a finely tuned aesthetic that leans to the strange, dark, inscrutable, and kinky. And then there are items she's collected which exhibit a banality that like a David Lynch film suggest that the slightest scratch to the surface will reveal a depth of darkness that you may not wish to penetrate. This book is a collection of seemingly benign photos she's found of people "playing" at being violent - i.e. pretending to stab or strangle a triend/spouse - all for the sake of a photo. As I looked over this collection of photos, I wondered at what point in collecting them did Erin start to pick up on this violence as theater/entertainment theme. And I wondered at what point in the history of photography did people decide that this was something that they wanted to document for all posterity.
November 5, 2025 at 7:02 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
Sure, I went overboard on the sheep photos, but the sheer number of pheasant shots totally balanced it out 😅🤣📸
A pheasant standing on a moss covered stone wall with dense foliage in the background
November 5, 2025 at 5:17 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
Good lord, I managed to take a lot of sheep photos on my trip 😅
Three sheep are in a grassy field, with one lying down and a magpie perched on the back of another sheep.
November 4, 2025 at 2:40 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
Don’t miss Tosh Berman’s Substack writeup on our latest zine!
The header of a substack blog by author Tosh Berman that features a photo of the zine A Violent Life
November 3, 2025 at 6:33 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
What a treat it was to photograph the misericords at Cartmel Priory, which date back to around 1440. Growing up in Los Angeles, a building from 1900 feels old, so it’s such a joy to visit a place with this much history.
Wooden misericord carving at Cartmel Priory depicting a grotesque winged creature with a fierce expression
November 3, 2025 at 4:09 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
A group of men posing for a photograph in a classroom with human and animal skeletons, likely from an anatomy or medical class.
November 2, 2025 at 4:46 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
Gotta love a moss encrusted grave 😍🪦
A moss covered grave lies in a cemetery. It is surrounded by lush green grass with patches of clover. The stone features a carved cross.
November 2, 2025 at 2:48 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
☠️⏳
Carved ledger stone featuring a skull and crossbones with an hourglass. A old metal radiator has been installed to the left-hand side of the ledger stone, obscuring part of the design.
October 31, 2025 at 3:05 AM
erinalexander.bsky.social
New zine drops tomorrow, link in bio 📚📖📸
A promotional image for a book titled A Violent Life, priced at $12.00 with the note "COMING SOON." Below the text is a photo of the book's cover, which is green with a b&w photograph of two men boxing. The description reads: "The photos found in A Violent Life can only be called 'controlled horror! Never intended for publication or mass consumption, they are personal, mostly inscrutable, and often fascinating. With text by Tosh Berman (TOSH, The Plum in Mr. Blum's Pudding, Sparks-Tastic)."
October 30, 2025 at 4:21 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
The tomb and effigies of John Harington and his wife, Lady Joan. Cartmel Priory.
October 29, 2025 at 1:54 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
He’s just a little guy 🥹❤️
Stone grotesque on the corner of a church, depicting a small canine creature with large ears and wings, projecting outward beneath a row of arched architectural details.
October 28, 2025 at 4:46 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
“In memory of Charles, the only and beloved child of James and Sarah Goring, whose opening life of bright promise was suddenly closed by a most lamentable occurrence, on the eleventh day of May 1843, in the ninth year of his age. ‘I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.’”
A marble memorial plaque depicting a relief sculpture of an angel reaching upward and a mourning woman kneeling beside a young child lying down. Below the sculpture, an inscription reads: "In memory of Charles, the only and beloved child of James and Sarah Goring, whose opening life of bright promise was suddenly closed by a most lamentable occurrence, on the eleventh day of May 1843, in the ninth year of his age." Below this is a Bible verse: "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it." - Psalm XXXIX. IX. The sculpture is signed "E.S. Stephens . London."
October 27, 2025 at 3:59 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
DO NOT FEED OR ANNOY THE ANIMALS
A woman wearing a leopard print coat and hat stands with her arms crossed in front of a caged area with a leopard inside. A sign on the cage reads “DO NOT FEED OR ANNOY ANIMALS $25 FINE.” The background features a brick wall with bars casting shadows.
October 26, 2025 at 3:46 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
Try a few drops of FLAMING DESIRE…little behind your ear…a little in your hair…a wee bit more in some secret place…
Two stacked vintage magazine advertisements: one promoting song and poem submissions for recording with Star-Crest Recording Co. in Hollywood, and another for a perfume called “Flaming Desire” from Vanity Products, claiming it can make a man desire you. The ad includes black & white illustrations and text descriptions of products.
October 26, 2025 at 1:08 PM
erinalexander.bsky.social
Cartmel Priory was so beautiful I lost track of time and photographed graves and glass for two and a half hours
Fragmented stained glass window at Cartmel Priory depicting an angel and a smaller panel below showing a figure playing a instrument.
October 25, 2025 at 2:58 PM