THE THREE CENSORED “WARRIORS”
Went to the beach today and it was a very relaxing Sunday for a workaholic, being a magazine addict I grabbed a couple on my way out and devour the pages laying on a beach towel while waiting for some friends to grab some grub. I’ve seen the “Bondage Warriors” from the September 2009 issue of VOGUE HOMMES JAPAN magazine before and maybe because of my last entry “Pork, Jews and Porn: Censorship in Saudi Arabia” I realized the obvious irony of it all. The 30-page-spread, S&M-inspired story of male bondage photographed by the iconic image-maker Steven Klein and styled by the very talented Nicola Formichetti has 3 full frontal nude shots in 3 different pages that will never see the light of day. Whether its good for Christianity, Government of Japan, or the main artistic statement of “produce-full-frontal-nudes-of-men-and-make-it-look-like-it-was-published-in-Saudi-Arabia-with-the-red-marker-pen” concept, I’m underwhelmed to say the least.
BREAST VS PENIS
Klein (self-portraits on the left), an american photographer based in New York is one of my personal heroes when it comes to pushing the envelope in the world of fashion, as a young photographer, I’m perplexed when Lady Gaga’s breast (as shown above) appeared in the same issue and it’s not censored since breasts have been fair game in fashion for a long time, and penis have popped-out here and there, and not in porn mags but in blue chip magazines and ad campaigns like “supermodels” Evandro Soldati (Ford NYC) and the latest Calvin Klein Model, Jamie Dornan‘s (Select London) full frontal nude (as shown below) for Visionaire #52 photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, Andres Velencoso Segura (Wilhelmina NYC) by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for Arena Homme Plus magazine, Alex for Hercules Magazine photographed by Paola Kudacki, and martial arts star Samuel de Cubber in full glory with his legs apart and yes with his penis visible for Yves Saint Laurent men’s fragrance M7 “eight years ago” in 2002 created by the American designer Tom Ford. In an interview Ford said: “Perfume is worn on the skin, so why hide the body? The M7 campaign is really pure… it’s a very academic nude.”
"Supermodel" Evandro Soldati and the latest Calvin Klein Model, Jamie Dornan's full frontal nude for Visionaire #52 photographed by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott
"Supermodel" Andres Velencoso Segura by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for Arena Homme Plus magazine.
Alex full frontal for Hercules Magazine photographed by Paola Kudacki and Martial arts star Samuel de Cubber in full glory with his legs apart and yes with his penis visible for Yves Saint Laurent men's fragrance M7 "eight years ago" in 2002 created by the American designer Tom Ford
PULP OF AMERICA
Widely published from 1896 through the 1950s, PULP magazines pushed the envelope of sex, violence and gore in America. The inexpensive fiction magazines might be the granddaddy of all magazines in the business of “pushing envelopes” in american publication. Pulp magazines are a little over 1000 titles, including digests, one-shots and girly magazines. Things calmed down a little in the early 40′s when the Victorians got involved. The overt sadomasochism and racy sexual content got toned down considerably. Twenty one years later Steven Klein was born and like many other iconic fashion photographers being rebellious and controversial with their images they continued the legacy of the idea of “artistic rebellion”.
A Before and after censorship in a PULP Magazine in the 40's.
SELF-CONTRADICTION
In the book “Censoring sex: a historical journey through American media” by John E. Semonche, two quotes from the introduction pops up:
[A] sizable portion of the American public accepts censorship as an imagined “quick fix” solution to moral drift and other social ills… Fears of unbridled…sexuality, of a world without clear moral compass, and of the impact that a gigantic multimedia universe is having on our children, have contributed to the continued scapegoating of speech in America. (Marjorie Heins, 1998)
As a result of our ignorance, apathy, and fear, sex has to a great extent become by default the intellectual, moral and legal property of politicians, clerics, and ideologues. (John Heidenry, 1997)
As for me, the idea of pushing the envelope for the sake of art to be pushed back by religion, government or self-contradiction is like re-living 1940′s again… in 2010, but thats only my two cents, I still love Mr. Klein regardless and my friends arrived with the paper bag of deliciousness from the nearby Deli.
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