- Hardcover: 248 pages
- Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (24 May 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0375500200
- ISBN-13: 978-0375500206
Part of the feedback I received from my tutor was to look at the work of Susan Sontag and explore the "Male/Female Gaze". During my research I came across this book. It consists of an essay on what it is to be female by Sontag and a collection of portraits by Leibovitz.
What immediately struck me was the sheer variety of the portraits. every page is different. Its like Leibovitz finds a way yo make an exceptional portrait and then vows never to repeat the process. The second thing that struck me was the tone of the photographs, even the photos that have an element of nudity do not objectify the women. The photos document the women. If the women are beautiful that fact is documented. If the women are accomplished, then that is also documented. in every photograph the femininity of the subject is apparent. In other words these portraits are not taken from the point of view of the male gaze and I don't think these photographs could have been taken by a man.
Sontag's essay is a thought provoking read on how the world treats women differently Sontag states
"No country gave women the right to vote before giving it to men. Nobody thought of men as the second sex" (Leibovitz and Sontag, 1999:22).
It is not a man hating diatribe but more of a commentary on how the world is for women, their relationship with their beauty (or lack thereof) and how they are portrayed through the photographers lens.
"woman are judged by their appearance as man are not, and women are punished more than men by the changes brought about by aging. Ideals of appearance such as youthfulness and slimness are in large part now created and enforced by photographic images." (Leibovitz and Sontag, 1999:23).
I am a huge fan of David Bailey, Rankin and Helmut Newton and my next statement refers to their fashion and nude photography of female models. Their work is in stark contrast to this book. They very much shoot in the male gaze and this is what attracts me to their images. Their photographs celebrate, glorify and emphasize the beauty and sexuality of their female models, Leibovitz does not. Some of the subjects do exude sexuality but that is not as a result of emphasis by the photographer in fact you get the impression that if you were to be in the presence of these women, you would sense the same level of power, accomplishment beauty, sexuality, comedy etc.
For me this book is great inspiration both to shoot better portraits but also to shoot women as I would shoot men, looking for qualities to make a good portrait rather than make a sexy shot.
Reflection
I am a bloke and therefore have "The Male Gaze" installed by default. I have never considered this to be a handicap in any real sense, in fact it has given me years of pleasure. My inner misogynist would be quite happy to make a living taking photos of naked women. Thankfully this is only a small portion of my artistic ambition and being aware if it will hopefully prevent me being limited by it.