“A photographer who isn’t afraid
to show his eye”
images provided by: Photography-Now.net
The thing I love about Jock Sturges is that he has been ostracized and criticized for his nude photography, he’s been indicted for his nudes of children, arrested for child pornography. He has been picketed against by extreme Christian sects. And yet, he stays firm in his belief in his art. Jock Sturges was born in 1947 in NYC and went to school for psychology and photography at Marlboro College. ( I majored in both as well! ) He received an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1985. He worked and lived in San Francisco for years before moving to Seattle, Washington where he now lives.
The other thing I love about Jock Sturges, is, well, his photography. His use of natural light is superb, but what I think I love best about his work is the obvious collaboration he has with his models. I’ve read that Jock will spend weeks with his subjects, becoming like family, where the openness is there and he captures it. There is a trust and admiration that can be clearly seen from his subjects. This is because he has taken the time to know his subjects and lets each shoot with them organically grow and take form, letting the art work take on it’s own evolution.
There’s a link here that will take you to a short bio about him. You can read more on his arrests and hassles. I just love how the art world came rushing to his defense when the FBI confiscated his equipment and his work in 1990. A year later it was thrown out by the grand jury. It cost him $100,000 and probably a few sleepless nights. But he didn’t lose his conviction that his photography is indeed art, and not thinly disquised as underage pornography as some critics have deemed it to be.
Interesting. I’d heard of Jock Sturges, and knew he had photographed girls, but wasn’t aware he photographed boys as well.
Yes, he did beautiful photo essays of boys!
Your use of Jock Sturges on your fashionphotographyblog raises a number of challenging issues that I think would be interesting to explore further (and by the way, his work is beautiful and also technically brilliant – agree about the use of light and setting)….
The intersections between art, eroticism, fashion and “pornography” are an interesting dynamic to consider and explore – after all, what is high fashion other than a stylized portrayal of erotic fantasy, fetish and desire – your work certainly exhibits this erotic element in an unabashed and beautiful way. Interestingly, labels/discussions of pornography are often raised in relation to fashion photography (Calvin Klein ads and portrayals of Madonna come immediately to mind and that’s just touching the surface of the cultural wars…). There’s a regular minefield of interesting artistic as well as social issues at stake here…
For me, your comments on Sturges bring to the fore, the issue/question of EXPLOITATION in the this realm of portraying a human being in the light of erotic sensibilities and aesthetics. For me this is a deeper and more important element of the “pornography” discussion. Your brief discussion of Sturges’ relationship with his subjects, I believe goes to the core of the issue. So there’s a lot of “meat” (so to speak!) in the intersections between fashion and exploitation. I love fashion for its aesthetics, but am often troubled by its politics and cultural implications….
I love the fact that your own work brings all the issues to the forefront of the viewers eye and informs your work with an unabashed and uncompromising beauty and quality – it is certainly a thought provoking feast! I’m obviously not only a great lover of, but also intellectually challenged by your art!
Anyway, these are my thoughts along with my morning coffee. I now have to readjust and engage in the more mundane elements of day-to-day living.
Nice post! Very complete and detail information. That
Beautiful work – I also like Greg Kadel shoot for the 2010 shoot for the Passionata coolection