Disturbing Image of Young Girl
Henchard
On the other hand if you want to say hi and chat about photographs please do!
PS If you get an award from me it isn't necessarily a good thing!
Disturbing Image of Young Girl
28 Apr 2009 12:56PM Views : 1304 Unique : 1025Well at least the title should bring some blog traffic.
Last Saturday I did a photo shoot with a 23 year old female model who approached me with the concepts for the shoot. One of the shots was my last upload (no clicks please) entitled Magic Lantern. In this photograph you, hopefully, see a fairly elegant model wearing all her clothes.
I today uploaded (and subsequently deleted for reasons that will follow) a shot of exactly the same woman still wearing all her clothes with some bandages on her arms and holding a soft toy. Now the intention was to try to make a slightly unsettling photography (without being cheesy). She wasn't sucking her finger or doing anything that could be construed as being overtly sexual. However, when I posted it I got comments that because the photo made her look very young it was disturbing. One poster asked why had I chosen to photograph such a young model (as I said she approached me and is 23).
Now I'm the first to say that I disagree with the sexulisation of young girls. But this photo was not that - it was a married 23 year old woman who had asked me to do the shoot. I had merely shot it in such a way that it made some people feel uncomfortable. In no way am I ashamed of the photo but I did remove it from EPZ as it could lead to comments/arguments that I didn't really want to get involved in.
So some thoughts to ponder (and I appreciate that you don't have the photo to view - although I might post a link to it if this blog generates interest and it's permitted).
Why are 2 photos of the same woman in different context viewed so differently?
Why is a fully dressed 23 year old woman found by some to be more disturbing than an 18 year old showing all her 'adult bits'?
Why is a woman holding a cuddly toy viewed as disturbing when many photographs here glamorise guns and gangster culture (just do gallery search)?
One of the whole points of photography for me is to raise questions and ask things of the viewer. I have photographs of people dying of AIDS in their shacks in Africa and of the dead skeletons of children in Rwanda. I have not posted these on EPZ. Should I?
Dear reader your opinions?
Tags: Photo Disturbing
Comments
I am afraid John your main mistake here was to submit to whatever mindless comments there were over the subject and take your shot off - I feel you should have had the courage of your convictions and told whoever to sod off - in whatever words you find appropriate.
You've no real excuse - in your 'about me' blurb you describe exactly what you feel EPZ stands for (or doesn't) and yet you pander to it.
If you just want to feel comfortable with things then you are simply toe-ing their line and frankly are going to limit the progress of your craft.
Dont let em get you down Put it back up in defiance!!
LOL!
db
PS why is this not a forum post ?? that would get the old biddies going
Quote:I have not posted these on EPZ. Should I?
Probably not if the comments on your other shot, which I sadly missed, make you take shots down.
The thing with opinions is they do differ greatly. We have such a range of members that things are bound to offend. You can choose to: fight (which we prefer not to happen), ignore comments that you don't agree with (seems to me a sensible option) or don't post (which is not good for the overall balance of images).
Your image was one that I was going to have a better look at later - if it had stayed. I'd seen one of the comments and felt it was unjustified. Pity the comments got to you. Although I can sympathise. No matter how ignorant some people can be, their comments do tend to get at you - well at me, at least. But I recently decided to take as little notice as possible of comments that I consider o.t.t. or out of order.
I'd say: Just do your own thing, and to .... with other people's opinions.
It really annoy`s me when people add none constructive waste of time comments. Happened to me recently, left the picture up but I pandered to them by printing an apology and changed a few words in the pictures description.
I later came to my senses, removed my apology and put my original description back.
Made me feel much better
