Question 3: Do you think work like that of photographers Sally Mann, Jock Sturges and/or David Hamilton is positive, innocuous or pernicious in its effect on the viewer? Do you think the photos were intended to be sexual or is this perception something our oversexed culture brings to them? (Please feel free to incorporate your reaction to Noelle Oxenhandler's essay, "Nole Me Tangere," in your answer.) |
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I don't feel that works of art like that of Jock Sturges, David Hamilton or Sally Mann can have a positive or negative effect on their viewers. I 
personally don't find anything wrong with photographs of naked bodies, as
long as I find them artistically interesting in some way. I also realize,
as well, that there is a very fine line between what is considered "art"
and what is considered "pornography." No pictures of naked children, for
example, really offend me unless I feel they are really very vulgar and
have no artistic merit whatsoever. Although, as I said, they don't offend
me, at the same time I don't feel that it's necessary to take pictures of
young children completely naked and exposed because it is bound to offend
someone. Of course, there are some people who would consider a bare arm
too much, which is absolutely ridiculous.
The pictures I find truly beautiful, though, are those where the human body almost blends in with the backdrop. The one by David Hamilton, I think it is, in which a girl is draped over the side of a couch, is one of my favorites. The photo is not centered around the naked girl's breasts, but rather around the curve of her entire body. She almost takes on the form of a wild animal or a statue; she literally becomes a part of her surroundings. I also don't think that a mother who takes naked pictures of her young children is exploiting them, or necessarily taking pornographic pictures. I think the human body is really something beautiful and not something we should feel ashamed about. People that find a child's body sexually stimulating, and take pictures of naked children in provocative positions (and I'm talking about legs spread, not naked child playing in the water, etc.) are sick, and are going to find any picture of a young girl or boy sexually stimulating. |
Question 1 A. M. Homes James Kincaid Judith Levine Michael Medved Stephen Schiff Celine Texier-Rose Naomi Wolf Question 2 A. M. Homes James Kincaid Judith Levine Michael Medved Stephen Schiff Celine Texier-Rose Naomi Wolf Question 3 A. M. Homes James Kincaid Judith Levine Michael Medved Stephen Schiff Celine Texier-Rose Sally Mann Question 4 A. M. Homes James Kincaid Judith Levine Michael Medved Stephen Schiff Celine Texier-Rose |
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