Fig. 1 Helmut Newton Sketchbook I (author's own)
Fig. 2 Helmut Newton Sketchbook II (author's own)
Helmut Newton's exhibition in Berlin was a collection of great photography work. I particularly enjoyed the fact that each image had a scenario rather than just a person/people posing, however, I couldn't help but notice that almost every photograph was an image of a very "perfect" woman. Other than the fact that they were mostly nudes, a lot of them were quite dominant images of women, at the same time, some seemed pretty vulnerable too.
The media seems to eliminate a whole group within society and only focuses on a certain minority, and to be honest, even the minority that we may see as "perfect" in reality would not be perfect enough to earn a place on billboards and in magazines without being altered. It seems like only a certain way of looking is acceptable, this unreachable level of perfection that we still strive to reach seems unfair. It seems unfair that a lot of us feel the need to have to look and be a certain way just to be considered "beautiful"; whatever beautiful is anyway.
I spotted a quote written up on one of the walls at the exhibition, it may not directly relate to my topic but it still stood out to me, "I love vulgarity, I am very attracted by bad taste- it is a lot more exciting than that supposed good taste which is nothing more than a standardised way of looking at things."- Helmut Newton, Press Conference, Austria 1994.
No comments:
Post a Comment