Yes, the Carucci photos were fascinating. I gotta say, Kate, that I’m really enjoying listening to you think out loud about these issues. I have no answers or nothing relevant to say but I am finding it fascinating.
Oh, I do have one thing to say–only a man would say “what makes it worth leaving your naked girlfriend in bed?” Why must sex be the standard by whch we justify all that we do–or rather all that men do? If someone were interviewing Carucci (or another mother) I’m sure they’d ask what about their work makes it worth leaving their children for…
It’s not just a double standard–and yet, it is a double standard; it’s this pervasive assumption that art and biology are incompatible opposites and I don’t feel comfortable with the distinction at some visceral level.
Mad, great thought. I hadn’t thought of it that way. To be fair to the instructor, however, the guy he was asking was 19 or 20, so that probably was the most meaningful way to make his point.
Also, I do sometimes feel guilty for the time I spend at the drop-in centre. It’s only 2 hours a week, but I’m serving coffee, not changing the world. Ironic that it feels intensely selfish, and I can’t give it up.
i’d never seen Carucci’s work before and i found it fascinating…though i was more compelled by the glimpses of her postpartum body than by the kids, i think simply because i’m accustomed to nakedish children. with kids, i feel conditioned to see their bodies as evidently beautiful…with my own, and that of other women who have scars and lumps, there’s a more complex layer.
i did read the blog post you linked to, and while i thought she had amazing points, i will say i don’t see Carucci’s inclusion of her own body in those shots as pandering to traditional notions of beauty.
I found Carucci’s photos challening, but not because she was naked – I find something very exploitive about parents displaying naked pictures of their children. And I’m not saying that I’m right, you understand, but it does make me profoundly uncomfortable.
Beck, yes, that is another aspect of Carucci’s photos. Tierney Gearon’s photos of her kids and family even more so. (I think I linked to Gearon’s photos a while back.)
hi kate — i’d love to weigh in on this. i don’t really consider Carucci’s work to be hindered by the privilege of her beauty, or the interplay of beauty and her nudity. but it is true, as i wrote, that my initial reaction to that aspect of her ongoing personal self-portraiture kept me from fully embracing her work at first–i *always* question beauty these days, especially in this photo-world. (and yes, i do think that people who are more comfortable casually documenting their life by including a lot of depictions of their own nudity are also more likely to be have traditionally-desired bodies.) however, my first take on her photos actually changed a lot when i saw her speak on a panel at Aperture last fall–she really gave a sense of where she was coming from and how she conceptualizes the intimate and confessional aspects of her work. i was moved by the ways in which the camera, and photography, have helped her literally work through emotional situations in her life. sometimes, for whatever reason, hearing the personal story can really change your perspective on things. sometimes i think we want art to be able to stand alone, in a vacuum, and have it’s own truth. vacuum, schmacuum. -lexi
Those Carucci photos are eerie and interesting.
Yes, the Carucci photos were fascinating. I gotta say, Kate, that I’m really enjoying listening to you think out loud about these issues. I have no answers or nothing relevant to say but I am finding it fascinating.
Oh, I do have one thing to say–only a man would say “what makes it worth leaving your naked girlfriend in bed?” Why must sex be the standard by whch we justify all that we do–or rather all that men do? If someone were interviewing Carucci (or another mother) I’m sure they’d ask what about their work makes it worth leaving their children for…
It’s not just a double standard–and yet, it is a double standard; it’s this pervasive assumption that art and biology are incompatible opposites and I don’t feel comfortable with the distinction at some visceral level.
Mad, great thought. I hadn’t thought of it that way. To be fair to the instructor, however, the guy he was asking was 19 or 20, so that probably was the most meaningful way to make his point.
Also, I do sometimes feel guilty for the time I spend at the drop-in centre. It’s only 2 hours a week, but I’m serving coffee, not changing the world. Ironic that it feels intensely selfish, and I can’t give it up.
i’d never seen Carucci’s work before and i found it fascinating…though i was more compelled by the glimpses of her postpartum body than by the kids, i think simply because i’m accustomed to nakedish children. with kids, i feel conditioned to see their bodies as evidently beautiful…with my own, and that of other women who have scars and lumps, there’s a more complex layer.
i did read the blog post you linked to, and while i thought she had amazing points, i will say i don’t see Carucci’s inclusion of her own body in those shots as pandering to traditional notions of beauty.
I found Carucci’s photos challening, but not because she was naked – I find something very exploitive about parents displaying naked pictures of their children. And I’m not saying that I’m right, you understand, but it does make me profoundly uncomfortable.
Beck, yes, that is another aspect of Carucci’s photos. Tierney Gearon’s photos of her kids and family even more so. (I think I linked to Gearon’s photos a while back.)
hi kate — i’d love to weigh in on this. i don’t really consider Carucci’s work to be hindered by the privilege of her beauty, or the interplay of beauty and her nudity. but it is true, as i wrote, that my initial reaction to that aspect of her ongoing personal self-portraiture kept me from fully embracing her work at first–i *always* question beauty these days, especially in this photo-world. (and yes, i do think that people who are more comfortable casually documenting their life by including a lot of depictions of their own nudity are also more likely to be have traditionally-desired bodies.) however, my first take on her photos actually changed a lot when i saw her speak on a panel at Aperture last fall–she really gave a sense of where she was coming from and how she conceptualizes the intimate and confessional aspects of her work. i was moved by the ways in which the camera, and photography, have helped her literally work through emotional situations in her life. sometimes, for whatever reason, hearing the personal story can really change your perspective on things. sometimes i think we want art to be able to stand alone, in a vacuum, and have it’s own truth. vacuum, schmacuum. -lexi
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