A close-up of a pussy
What is the artist trying to tell us?
I took this photo because I deal a lot with the subject of nude photography, sensuality and aesthetics. We talk about women as the "beautiful sex". We show body shapes, breasts, behinds and of course faces. But the pussy is and remains a taboo.
In such a free Western society, this is still the case today. The pussy is a private matter, one would think.
But I read that there are women who have never even looked closely at their own vagina. Yet it is so beautiful.
I pay homage to the female beauty with my close-up. Such a close-up view is surprising and unusual.
The multiple enlarged intimate shot startles the viewer at first. I also caught myself almost blushing when I looked at my photo large for the first time.
It's so deep inside us that it's forbidden to look at a vagina. I think that's huge.
The photo itself was technically difficult to take. Lina was lying relaxed on a bed in the middle of a garden while I knelt between her legs. Unfortunately there is no behind the scenes photo. But I would look pretty stupid and fit the stereo type of the half-silvered photographer. With a long lens between the spread legs of a model. How absurd this made me feel.
It was the very first time I had taken such a photo. After hundreds of nude shoots and more than 17 years of experience in the field. However, the technical challenges made me break out in a sweat. With a macro lens with manual focus, the slightest twist of the focus ring on the lens is enough to completely mess up the focus.
But where should the focus actually be? I had to judge that while I was taking the picture. And both focus and chosen aperture are very important here, because I didn't want to achieve a medical image. Even the slightest change in angle completely changes the image, too.
It was also an art to get the presentation right so that it remained purely aesthetic rather than obscene. Not sober yet not pornographic.
I'm interested in the aesthetics and the beauty of nature. I don't want to provoke, but I do want to ask questions.
For example, why something that all straight men are keen on is taboo. And whether we're not lying to ourselves when we portray ourselves as a free society. And what is actually so bad about this sight of a female body part?
Luckily, Lina is a cosmopolitan woman. I was able to talk to her about the photo idea beforehand and so I asked her if I could take such a picture. She agreed for the sake of the art. She also shares my views on the subject and would like to see a removal of taboos.
Despite everything, she was also aware that such an intimate photo would bring criticism. I would therefore like to thank her in particular for her trust and courage. Ultimately, the photo is also a good book finale because it represents the ultimate visual revelation of a woman to a man. That may sound a bit theatrical, but a visual like the one we created means more than just a topless photo.
I took the photo while I was working on my book, but I didn't know at the time whether I would use it at all. It had to fit the context. Under no circumstances did I want to create a pornographic depiction, a crude image.
In addition, I showed Lina the picture on my laptop when we met in person and asked for her opinion and then asked again a year later for explicit permission to print it. I am aware of the sensitivity of the photo.
Beforehand, I had already thought about how I could integrate such a close-up shot into a photo series nicely. I bought peonies — Lina's favorite flower. Analogous to "He loves me, he loves me not", Lina plucks off the petals and lets them fall onto her own "flower".
A symbol for the connection of nature. The vagina is also known as the "flower of life" because life is created in it and is born through it.
I am talking about sexual intercourse and the birth of children.
In other words, something without which none of us would exist.
The analogies between flowers and the female sexual organ are manifold in art. For example, there are depictions by Frida Kahlo from 1938 (Xóchitl) and 1943 (Flame Flower), both of which have clear sexual symbolism.
Or sex scenes by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (e.g. Adonis Plant from 1815), in which the vagina clearly takes center stage.
It all goes back to ancient times. So I could give many more examples.
But my photo is not about sex. Nor is it about arousal. I'm simply showing the aesthetics of the pussy. An appetizing picture with pleasant colours and an attractive juiciness.
I worked on this photo for a long time. I cropped it differently. Shrinked, enlarged and pondered. Until I had the idea of how I could visually express my thoughts about the connection to nature more clearly. I inverted the photo and shifted the petals to a green color scheme in order to achieve a complementary contrast and a visual connection to the photos in the garden plot.
By shifting the image, I found a section in which the labia visually continue into the petals at the bottom of the image. This is done subtly, but I didn't want it to dominate my image.
The frame is so wide that the ratio of the close-up to the frame corresponds to the golden ratio. The division of petals to labia also corresponds to this ratio.
Extremely soft and well-chosen transparencies in the lower part of the picture reinforce the connection between vagina and nature. In other words, my depiction of naturalness and, as a whole, can be seen as a kind of shrine to the female sex.
This photo of a pussy is a small symbol of rebellion and also stands for female empowerment. I celebrate freedom, show the deepest respect for openness and courage and pay homage to the aesthetics of the female sex.
I promised Lina that I would only use the photo for the book. That's why you can't see the picture on my website. Of course, you will find it unpixelated in the book.
For me personally, this photo also means a closure with the past, a kind of transition into a new artistic world, as my work in the future will be dedicated to new styles and new types of projects.
Now this article has become much longer than it should be. As a result, the photo is getting more attention than necessary. Instead, I simply wish for more serenity everywhere!
