The Whole Big Vogue Italia Thing
Friday, August 13, 2010 at 02:17PM The September issue of Vogue Italia, has sparked some serious debate with their "Water and Oil" shoot, photographed by Steven Meisel. Is this an exploitation of the crisis in the gulf or an insightful artistic expression? Here are our thoughts.
1) Artists and designers, even more than most, are deeply impacted by what happens in the world (we will actually be exploring this in our regular section: "Newsreel Trend-Predictor.") Like it or not, the oil spill has seeped into the collective conscious of the artistic community and we will see it come up in many ways. This disaster, like many other atrocities, is something that is difficult to ignore. We think it is best to admit that we're moved and to express it, however we may.
2) We find Mr. Meisel's images to be haunting, gut-wrenching and far from glamorous. The photos have given us a visual that helps us humanize and connect to the frustration and defeat that wildlife experience after a spill of this magnitude.
3) There has been a fair amount of criticism regarding the funds and resources needed for a shoot like this and how that all could have gone to help the clean up effort. Idealism aside, Vogue Italia is a fashion magazine and they produce expensive photo shoots. That is what they do. They chose to dedicate one of those expensive shoots to expressing what we are all thinking about which, as artists, they have a right and (we believe) a responsibilty to do— the result is a lot more attention for the disaster because of the controversial shoot. It is sad, though, that in all of the many cirticisms we've read, we've rarely seen so much as a link to encourage people to help with the relief efforts that they are so angry at Vogue for ignoring! Let's remedy that now, shall we?
We strongly recommend supporting the Waterkeeper Alliance.
Reader Comments (2)
Short and sweet -- and oh-so-right. Really appreciate your down-to-earth perspective. Thank you!
i agree. as an artist i definitely feel like i am moved by the things that happen in the world and my expression of that is never an exploitation. it is just what is in my soul.