Three recent photographic exhibits at the same site recently caught my eye. All three offer pertinent semiotic input for the purposes of our seminar--they include the work of Martin Richter, Care in Progress; Norbert Enker, Brain-Storm; and Stephan Elleringmann, Sextoys.
In particular, Elleringmann's visual outing of the corporate/factory fashioning of ersatz human sex partners gives, pardon the pun, food for thought in our consideration of ethnic mannequins, caucasion and otherwise.
Hi Professor! I found a link to a photograph by Nick Knight that I've been studying in relation to our class discussion. This image is of Aimee Mullins, a paralympic athlete who had the bottom half of her legs amputated as a baby. She grew up to be a respected olympic athlete, although she normally may not be seen in a conventional fashion or beauty photo shoot. I think this portrayal of her is fascinating because she looks quite doll-like. The focus is on her outer beauty and only after knowing her background did I notice her prosthetic legs. She is normally recognized for her inner strength and athletic ability, but with makeup, clothes, and prosthetics, she has been transformed into a beautiful, fashionable icon, in the most traditional way. Her legs may be considered as the only fake part of her body, but because of them she has made real accomplishments. In this photo where they are not the focus, she is almost turned into a fake version of herself. She is not running or active, she is very still, and we see her through a very different gaze than we normally would.
ReplyDeletehttp://showstudio.com/projects/incamera_nk/gallery/lg/accessible_1.jpg
here is the link! -Gina Hornung-