Bordello
- A Collection of Photographs by Vee Speers.
Published by Periplus Publishing
London Ltd. ISBN-10: 1902699734
Vee
Speers is Australian by birth and studied Fine Art and Photography at
the Queensland College of Art. From here she went on to work for the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation where she photographed publicity material. Speers
has exhibited widely and won many awards for her work - including the
1994 Hasselblad / Prophoto prize. For the past 15 years she has made Paris
her home - living near the infamous red light district of Rue St. Denis.
From her flat she watched the prostitutes displaying their wares and their
clients coming to buy and became fascinated by the interaction and seduction
"The art of seduction fascinates me. I love the game." It is
this fascination that inspired her to produce the series of images she
has entitled 'Bordello' a collection that has been exhibited
in London, Paris, Italy and Japan.
Building
upon, and referencing in both style and visual vocabulary, the photographs
of 1920's Parisian nightlife by the photographer Brassaï (Gyula Halász
1899 - 1984) - Speers has deliberately accentuated the romantic and seductive
atmosphere of her work by using the Fresson process to create the final
prints. She states that it was important to use the the carbon technique
of the Atelier Fresson so that the resultant images would be imbibed with
"a more authentic, painterly quality.” To strive further towards
this authenticity Speers' made her photographs, using none professional
models, on location in former bordellos where the original and lavish
decors survived intact.
Speers stated
intention is to create “a visual celebration of the mystery of seduction”
that is "respectful yet powerful." A celebration that also shows
that "women have a different way of seeing the body" and how
"models respond to a woman behind the camera" in a way that
is "different" to how they would react to a man. She states
that the work is meant to be an "exploration of sensuality and femininity"
rather than "an essay on prostitution."
Bordello is published in a pocket book format and has approx 50 monochromatic images
within its pages. It opens with a short introduction by Kate Hamilton
from Black+White magazine. In addition - Paul Ryan provides a lengthy,
and somewhat redundant, 42 page essay entitled 'Bordello - Inside the
Maisons Closes.' The book ends with a short autobiography and a very interesting,
but all too short, piece about the Fresson printing technique.
The photographs
are truly beautiful, captivating and they do indeed seduce the viewer
- taking one back to another time where Brassaï walked the streets
of Paris.
The
images alone make the book a worthwhile purchase but, despite her denial,
one cannot escape the fact that she has created photographs that can indeed
be read as an idealistic and romanticised view of prostitution - how much
of prostitution can really be said to about "seduction" and
an "exploration of sensuality and femininity" ? - that these
questions are left unanswered leaves a bittersweet aftertaste. It should
not be forgotten that there is a fundamental difference between the photographs
of Brassaï and Speers - the images Brassaï made were reportage.
This reviewer
cannot help but think that it would have been better to have left out
the piece by Paul Ryan. The photographs are stunning and as such they
are strong enough to stand by themselves, in part perhaps as a homage
to Brassaï, without the accompanying text weakening their case.
Review by
Christopher John Ball
*** Rating
*Review
Star Ratings
No
Stars |
Poor |
* |
Average |
** |
Good |
*** |
Very
Good |
**** |
Excellent |
***** |
Highly
Recommended |
If
you have a photography related book you would like reviewing, including
self-published material, email details to chris@cjballphotography.co.uk
and I will happily consider doing so. The review will be hosted, free
of charge, on this website and posted via Twitter and Facebook. All
I ask in return is that a link be placed on your own site to the review
on this website and, if used in any promotional material , I am credited
as Christopher John Ball.
Return
to Book Reviews
