Thursday, 30 September 2010

The Guardian

Forgot to say in my previous blogs that I've been reading about The Arts in the media. In particular an article in The Guardian about "The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize'. The article was about an image through to the shortlist for the prize by Panayiotis Lamprou. It's caused a stir because of its explicit nature. It shows his wife sitting on a chair with her genitals showing beneath her short dress. It's now on display with the other shortlisted images in the National Portrait Gallery.
I guess this raises questions over why images that show someones genitals are viewed as sexually explicit? Do we have to consider this to be sexual rather than just a woman who feels free enough to sit with her genitals on display in the comfort and privacy of her own home? Apparently the image was never intended to be published but his wife consented to him entering it for the Taylor Wessing Prize. This was an intimate moment in their lives that they have chosen to make public but I don't view it as sexual but for what it is, a piece of art. The Guardian also questions whether it is voyeristic of us to be viewing this image? Perhaps some might see it that way but surely it is not voyeristic to view something which is in the public domain? It's there for all to see. So why not look at it and see it for what it is an intimate portrait of the photographers wife?

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