Are You Kidding Me????
I just got wind of this "controversy"... and I dunno, maybe you might think I'd react one way or maybe you think my response is "normal" considering what you read of me here.
But apparently people's panties are all in a bunch about the Vogue cover to the left here, saying it perpetuates racial stereotypes.
Seriously? I don't see it.
What I see, as a photographer, is a very energetic photograph that captures the brawn of a very large (ooh! I don't follow basketball anymore and he's hot!) basketball player, and a (way too thin) model. I love that the ball is in motion, halfway between his hand and the floor. I love that she is in motion... if she weren't so damn thin it almost reminds me of the painting of Venus emerging from the waves, with her hair flying. I like that on both of them, one foot is slightly off the ground. I love the contrast in their body mass. As a photographer, assuming that maybe she's been airbrushed a little and maybe some shadows painted in, assuming all that, I'd be pretty friggin' excited to have captured a moment like that. And then I found out it was Annie Leibowitz and well hell... of course! No mere mortal of a photographer would have brought that out.
Now, this morning on the Today Show, Donny Deutch (who seriously... if I could be hired by him I would be thrilled--he's smart. And hot. Though not hot! like Lebron James.) and this woman who's name escapes me (brownlady... love her voice) were debating the cover. Donny said as an ad guy... or maybe a "dumb white guy" he didn't see it either. Of course his "dumb white guy" comment reminded me of the 16 Ways To Avoid Racism blog post I found the other day. But whatever. She argued that she did a double-take on the cover and rolled her eyes (and I chuckled as I was reminded of this Geico ad...
and honestly my thought is "come on. That's just WAY over-sensitive".
But I dunno. I didn't grow up here and maybe that's the point. Maybe racism is so ingrained here
that EVERYBODY is affected. Just see racism in everything... even when there isn't. Which is probably true. (Also reminds me of Senator Obama's Race speech in which he said people make racial controversies where there are none, and ignore genuine incidents.) People are bringing up the comparison between the Vogue cover and this King Kong poster to the right, and I laughed out loud to myself as I stood there looking at the TV... ok, I get THAT, but seriously. How many kids these days know that poster and would make that association? And maybe some old white gay guy poring over all the pictures AnnieTheQueen took thought to himself "oooooh! this one's IT!", and maybe it was subconscious cuz in his youth he had fantasies of being Fay Wray... or maybe it was conscious because he saw the chance comparison between the two images and like a good Creative Director thought "controversial AND sexy, well shit you can't beat that with a STICK" and maybe he (or she) thought both things (which is what I'm betting on). And maybe if there was a brown-skinned Art or Creative Director there, maybe they would have thought the same thing and then shied away from the cover, thinking he or she wouldn't feed into "racism". And personally... I think the latter scenario is a cop-out. Cuz the obvious, money making choice is the first... why? because it sells magazines and idiots like me are blogging about it first thing on a Wednesday morning over coffee... when I what I SHOULD be doing is a comp for a project that's due over to my client in about an hour...
update 3/28/08: Video from the Today Show segment...
But apparently people's panties are all in a bunch about the Vogue cover to the left here, saying it perpetuates racial stereotypes.Seriously? I don't see it.
What I see, as a photographer, is a very energetic photograph that captures the brawn of a very large (ooh! I don't follow basketball anymore and he's hot!) basketball player, and a (way too thin) model. I love that the ball is in motion, halfway between his hand and the floor. I love that she is in motion... if she weren't so damn thin it almost reminds me of the painting of Venus emerging from the waves, with her hair flying. I like that on both of them, one foot is slightly off the ground. I love the contrast in their body mass. As a photographer, assuming that maybe she's been airbrushed a little and maybe some shadows painted in, assuming all that, I'd be pretty friggin' excited to have captured a moment like that. And then I found out it was Annie Leibowitz and well hell... of course! No mere mortal of a photographer would have brought that out.
Now, this morning on the Today Show, Donny Deutch (who seriously... if I could be hired by him I would be thrilled--he's smart. And hot. Though not hot! like Lebron James.) and this woman who's name escapes me (brownlady... love her voice) were debating the cover. Donny said as an ad guy... or maybe a "dumb white guy" he didn't see it either. Of course his "dumb white guy" comment reminded me of the 16 Ways To Avoid Racism blog post I found the other day. But whatever. She argued that she did a double-take on the cover and rolled her eyes (and I chuckled as I was reminded of this Geico ad...
and honestly my thought is "come on. That's just WAY over-sensitive".
But I dunno. I didn't grow up here and maybe that's the point. Maybe racism is so ingrained here
that EVERYBODY is affected. Just see racism in everything... even when there isn't. Which is probably true. (Also reminds me of Senator Obama's Race speech in which he said people make racial controversies where there are none, and ignore genuine incidents.) People are bringing up the comparison between the Vogue cover and this King Kong poster to the right, and I laughed out loud to myself as I stood there looking at the TV... ok, I get THAT, but seriously. How many kids these days know that poster and would make that association? And maybe some old white gay guy poring over all the pictures AnnieTheQueen took thought to himself "oooooh! this one's IT!", and maybe it was subconscious cuz in his youth he had fantasies of being Fay Wray... or maybe it was conscious because he saw the chance comparison between the two images and like a good Creative Director thought "controversial AND sexy, well shit you can't beat that with a STICK" and maybe he (or she) thought both things (which is what I'm betting on). And maybe if there was a brown-skinned Art or Creative Director there, maybe they would have thought the same thing and then shied away from the cover, thinking he or she wouldn't feed into "racism". And personally... I think the latter scenario is a cop-out. Cuz the obvious, money making choice is the first... why? because it sells magazines and idiots like me are blogging about it first thing on a Wednesday morning over coffee... when I what I SHOULD be doing is a comp for a project that's due over to my client in about an hour...update 3/28/08: Video from the Today Show segment...
Comments
And I love, as always, your music selection. (I didnt know '99 problems')
G. from Mallorca