Dec 15 2008
Bettie Page
At the age of 85 Bettie Page died. We all know that generations ahead will be looking at photographs showing her in different poses from cute to downright hot, so it is not a complete and definitive goodbye. If I think of Bettie Page, immediately the name Irving Klaw comes to mind — the generous obese photographer who made her famous and – while facing obscenity charges – decided to destroy most of his material. If it had not been for Klaw’s sister who saved a lot of the material few of his photographs and film clips would have survived.
In a way Klaw has been one of the biggest influences in my work. He was not an art photographer like Ralph Gibson, Avedon or Art Kane, photographers who in one way or another “marked” my early photographs, but Klaw made me rethink photography. His works taught me that photography is not just about documenting, glamor, art, perfectionism or balanced compositions. Photography is also a very important vehicle for sexual fantasies that are considered socially undesirable or unacceptable in a specific era or culture.
You can define that as pornography if you please and I do not mind that label at all, but there is something much more humane and caring in delivering fantasies to those who see no reflection of their needs and desires in their day to day existence. A quality that clashes with the strict meaning of the word pornography.
Bettie Page, a very social and religious person, understood that very well too.