‘No Underwear Photo’ Is Causing An Artistic Stir
Hello,
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On November 9th 2010, in London, the winner of the Taylor Wessing prize for photographic portraiture will be announced.
The four pictures chosen for the final shortlist were decided upon last week, on Thursday.
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One of the four shortlisted pictures, by Athens born Panayiotis Lamprou, is causing a lot of fuss.
It is entitled ‘Portrait Of My British Wife’ and was taken at their holiday home on the island of Schinousa on a hot summer day.
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The picture was taken as the family sat together after a mid-day meal.
His wife, Christina, was relaxing in her wooden chair with one leg propped up on a seat and looking pretty in a flowered dress.
The photographer was moved to capture the moment permanently.
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So what is all the fuss about you may ask.
Well, it so happened that her legs were open and she was not wearing any knickers.
There you have the problem.
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How strange that most of the media has suddenly become so coy that it will only show a portion of the work, not including the offending piece of anatomy.
This is regardless of the fact that an artist creates a complete work, each aspect combining to compose all the different subtle levels that make the statement that the artist intended.
Their job does not include worrying about the public reception of the work.
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This shortlisted work is merely a gentle portrait of a man’s perception of his wife in an innocent relaxed moment.
This is not one of those deliberate gynaecological shots shown in so many lad’s mags and featuring the same interchangeable style of women, and for no other purpose than titillation.
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I have seen this photograph in full, and find it pretty, conveying a beguiling look of unselfconscious innocence.
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Attitudes also change in retrospect.
Another photographer called Robert Mapplethorpe was at one time infamous for his S&M work, which is now regarded as real genius.
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And so it always is.
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It will be interesting to find out if it Panayiotis Lamprou actually wins the £12,000 prize and perhaps also the opportunity of being chosen as photographer to be given the Elle commission to shoot a feature.
Although he has shown his work in Europe I do not think that the same applies in the UK.
This will be the first time his work is exhibited here.
It will also be interesting to see if the present unease with the subject will relax, or whether the viewers at the National Portrait Gallery will feel the need to protest about it.
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I would rather people protested about real obscenities like war, cruelty and the blatant destruction of our beautiful world, which is an original, irreplaceable and astonishing work of art.
That really does have to stop!
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