Sartorial Blunders

I was recently introduced to a wonderful fashion blog, the Sartorialist. Scott Shuman, who was in the fashion industry for years (in menswear) posts pictures of real people on the streets, all over the world, wearing awesome ensembles. Sometimes he makes comments about a trend or observation, but most times the pictures just speak for themselves. No stylist could do it better than real people - I have always believed that. I always love the personal touches - a scarf, a vest, a bright pair of shoes. When I worked on 57th Street in NYC in the early 90's, I would often spot Bill Cunningham shooting away for his "On the Street" pitorals for the NY Times. His patience always amazed me.

I was thinking that it would be fun to do a fashion blog as well, but in a more quirky style. Often people's choices puzzle me - not in the sense that I am making fun of them, I just want to know the backstory. Recently we were at a wedding up in Sonoma, and I spotted this guy dressed nicely, but clearly wearing 2 different colored socks. A mistake (in a rush, dressing in the dark?) or deliberate ("I may be dressed up but my socks clash! Yeah! Rock 'n roll!")?


Hmm, I wonder what the Sartorialist would have to say about that?

Everybody's All-American

I just finished watching "The Notorious Bettie Page", a movie starring Gretchen Moll as the infamous pin-up queen. While it was a well-done movie, the actress that was originally intended for the role, Liv Tyler, would have been a much better choice. Liv Tyler and Bettie share that all-American, Amazon quality paired with a show-stopping smile - they can be both the girl next door and the ultimate naughty fantasy simultaneously. It's like having both Betty and Veronica in one fabulous, spunky package.

One of the things that I have always loved about Bettie Page's photographs was how comfortable she was in her own skin. In a rare interview, she says that she never had a problem doing nude shots - after all, God made Adam and Eve naked, so how wrong could that be? Her body is beautiful and real, ample and soft, but also strong and powerful. That and her ability to work the camera makes these images a joy to look at. She said that she used to imagine that the camera was her boyfriend, and that she was posing for him. It's no wonder that the viewer feels so seduced and engaged.

Although she only modeled for 7 years, her image is everywhere today. What a feat of marketing - even Madonna must be envious of such a lasting presence. And even her bondage photographs, which seem tame by today's standards, have a clear element of theater and playfulness that tell the viewer, "I'm just dressing up - this is a costume! Come play with me!"

In some ways, she reminds me of another female who was popular in the 1950's, Barbie. These days, Barbie gets a bad rap about her unrealistic body. But Barbie is fantasy - a Jessica Rabbit-like symbol of a confident young woman who is entirely comfortable in her own skin, and not afraid to do anything in the world. In fact, the first Barbie outfit that I ever received was a go-go dancer costume, complete with gold boots! My Barbie could have any job she wanted, and she wanted to dance! Barbie was everything - young, beautiful, fun, and in control of her life. Ken was just another accessory that stood in the background as she persued her various careers and interests.

I celebrate these two icons - they are a great reminder of how fun it can be to be a member of the fairer sex!

Sexy MOMA

Exposure

Photography is on my mind a lot this week. From seeing the Annie Leibovitz exhibit on Saturday night, to my own pictures, to the Sundance Channel's week-long series of documentaries on photographers, these frozen moments in time are all around me.

Leibovitz is a photographer who excels in portraits, mostly of famous people. She has a way of getting inside, and showing that person to us in a way that is both intimate, and removed. She finds the juxtaposition of the ordinary and the extraordinary in a celebrity, and balances it perfectly. You know her photographs well: Demi in her nude pregnant glory, Nicole in a brocaded & chiffon dress swirling around her, John and Yoko in a visceral, intimate pose. I loved looking at these familiar pictures, larger than life, beautiful in their detail. The one of the White Stripes, above, was stunning. But what I really responded to were the personal photographs of her parents, sisters, and later herself and her children, as well as the many pictures of her lover and friend, Susan Sontag. They were full of life, and towards the end, hollowed by death, nothing filtering the viewers eye from the subject.

Tina Barney is also a photographer who specializes in portraits. But rather than stylize them, she lets the subjects' homes take on as important a role in the photograph as the subject. In the documentary, her life of privilege is revealed, and rather than idealizing the wealthy class of America and Europe, she is showing us what is familiar to her. Perhaps because of her connection to this carefully protected world, she is able to capture true expressions and natural gestures, again merging the ordinary and the extraordinary.





Tierney Gearon is a different type of photographer than Leibovitz and Tina Barney. Her subjects are nothing but personal: herself, her children, and her mother. "The Mother Project" documents her relationship with her schizophrenic mother, which she explores through her photography. The moments are telling and filled with emotion, as well as raw truth. The camera is always there, for the laughs, the tantrums, the spontaneity, and the stillness of everyday life. And rather than exploiting her mother's illness, you have the sense that she is looking for the goodness and beauty that lie beneath, both in her mother and in herself. Her children are a wonderful and joyous expression of a world without boundaries, which caused controversy at her London show at the Saatchi Gallery in London. Tierney Gearon's life seems to be a constantly moving work in progress, of moment after moment as diverse as her mood and the world that surrounds her.





There are 3 common denominators in all of these works: the subjects, the photographer, and the photographers' relationship to those subjects. That is the magic connection that occurs in the one moment that the shutter clicks, and what gives us the ability to "see", and more deeply, "feel", what is there, right in front of us. What is added is what the viewer brings to the mix, what resonates inside - whether it is a spark of recognition, or an emotional pull - and in that way each of us is a participant as well as a guest.

Near the end of the Gearon documentary, her mother apologizes to the camera. "I'm sorry I am so emotional today. But that's how women are - emotional". When in comes through in creative expression, it is what creates a wonderful, human connection.

Stories for the Eyes

Photography is probably my favorite art medium, because there are so many stories that can (and do) exist within one frame. It is interpretive in that the photographer can convey his point of view by choosing the moment, the place, the view, and the circumstance - but I love that it is based in reality.

My favorite era for photography was the 1950's and 1960's. There was something very surreal about that time, and people seemed to be trying very hard to keep up appearances. But emerging underneath all of the skinny ties, lipstick and hairspray was reality and the gritty underside of society which caught the eye of a few photographers of that time.

Diane Arbus and Garry Winogrand were both masters at capturing moments and people, and both of them had a definite New York point of view. I have seen retrospectives on both of their works, and I admire them very much. Arbus's subjects were very close up, where as Winogrand pulls a little bit further back to include the whole scene. Arbus seems to focus in and stop time, with her subjects clearly aware of the photographer's presence, whereas Winogrand is capturing a moment, as an undetected observer.

Above is Winogrand's most recognized photograph, "World's Fair". Here are a few more of his:




And Arbus: