11/23/2005
Proulx on Avedon
Annie Proulx, author of "Brokeback Mountain", drops a gorgeous review of Richard Avedon's newly reissued (in the UK) photographic tome In the American West. And who better to review it when that region's cast of characters are being so thoroughly re-examined this December? Even in this simple review, Proulx's prose on Avedon's subjects ("drifters with weatherbeaten faces like cracked mud, people with tiny heads and big tits, acne, moles, freckles, a salesman and a gravedigger, blood-spattered slaughterhouse workers, a fat pre-teen with his rifle") is eloquent and unflinching:
"Even now the Rocky Mountain western states see themselves as movie locales populated by handsome cowboys, noble ranchers and brave pioneer women living out lofty family and Christian values. These touchy people did not see the stern beauty in the portraits. They did see the dirt and unsmiling faces. Avedon's work was called vicious, sick, sensational, cruel, by people who did not understand anything beyond photography than that it was representational. They did not get it that they were seeing Avedon's observations rather than likenesses, art rather than tourism photos."
And at the end of the short review she sends up a signal flare that says as much about the upcoming release of Brokeback as Avedon's portrait book:
"Flames of resentment flare when the region is portrayed as anything but down-home, clean, decent, pioneer-spirited whatever. As one elderly rancher put it a few years ago, 'reality has never been much use out here'."
After the Gold Rush [guardian]
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 9:36 AM EST by Andy in Photography, Print Media | Permalink
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Hmmm, a celebration of ugly people. I guess it was a popular book if it's being re-issued, but I can't really imagine who would want it.
OTOH, I'm greatful that some people find beauty in ugly men. Otherwise I'd be a really lonely guy.
Like an old friend of mine used to say, "You don't have to be pretty, but you could stay home." To appreciate the humor in that statement, you have to know that she was a professional wrestler..... and a professional Drag Queen.
Posted by: Jay Croce | Nov 23, 2005 12:04:47 PM
Defining Avedon's book as "a celebration of ugly people" misses the point entirely.
It's also substituting ignorance for taste, which is a perspective taken far too often.
Posted by: daniel | Nov 23, 2005 12:24:51 PM
Yeah I cringe when I read someone disparaging people so flippantly when they're not eye candy as if to say 'how dare they assume the spotlight!' Though I read the humor in the comment, to me it comes across as brazen shallowness. But hey, that kind of humor obviously works for a lot of people. Maybe I'm a tad sensitive given my entire family lineage probably could find their look alike in the pages of the aforementioned photo book.
Posted by: Patrick of QV | Nov 23, 2005 3:26:01 PM
Proulx is a dazzling writer. Many people know The Shipping News, but Accordion Crimes, Postcards, & That Old Ace in the Hole are just as good. With the exception of Brokeback Mtn, I generally find her short stories less interesting; it's possible her energy & imagination are too big for the genre
Posted by: beautifulatrocities | Nov 23, 2005 4:15:35 PM
"Maybe I'm a tad sensitive given my entire family lineage probably could find their look alike in the pages of the aforementioned photo book."
My lineage is from a very long line of bachelors...
Posted by: HisHolynessDPope | Nov 24, 2005 9:18:26 PM