Joel Peter Witkin, photographer

I had to really think about this before starting a tread here about Joel Peter Witkin. I think is photography is fascinating, and he has had exhibitions all over the world. I wanted to share his site with the few of you that might like photography, but let me warn you...you must be openminded when viewing his work. It is different, but intriquing. I will just let you take a look, if you like, and see what you think. To be honest, I find this man to be a wonderful photographer, but not all people think so. I guess it depends on how open-minded you are.

I had to hurry and edit this post. I took the link off. I feel his work might be offensive to some of you, and I do not want to offend anyone.

If you care to look though..just do a search. He is quite famous, believe it or not. I love art and photography and found him one time while doing a search. Then I researched him more. Enough said.

Love,
purple_hazed

Cabal, I am glad to know someone else likes his work. I read what Witkin wrote about one the people he photographed, and it touched me emotionally. I did post on one of his message boards, but I like the surreal images he creates with his photography. Some of his photography is so surreal, that it reminds me of a Dali brought to life.

I have always like surrealism painters like Dali, Magritte, and de Chirico, and I guess that is why I like Witkin's surrealist photography.

Again thanks for responding, and yes I did post a disclaimer. Okay, I will post a link, but I hope it does not get me kicked off this board. So much for controversy. Here is the link. <a href="http://www.edelmangallery.com/witkin.htm" target="_blank">Joel Peter Witkin</a>

Take care Cabal, and I will check out the "process of plastination".

I believe I know the NIN video you are talking about. That has to be one of the strangest, artistic videos of all time. If I am correct, it also has monkey in it too. That is great video, and I actually like "some" of NIN's music. Now that I think about the video, I can see the homage to Witkin. Funny, I did not pick up on that before. I wonder where Nirvana got their artistic inspiration for the "Heart Shaped Box" video.( I absolutely loved that video, as well as Nirvana.) I miss Kurt Cobain. I loved his wispy voice. Sorry, I got off on a tangent, which is not unusual.

I checked out your links, and they are very interesting. Those Oriental people do not look to happy viewing that skeletal figure, however they do seemed intrigued by it.(grin)

Thanks for the links Cabal. It is nice to meet someone that appreciates art on this board. Seems like you enjoy it as much as I do.

I love exhibitions, and I hate you missed the one in Chicago. I was in Barnes and Noble a few months ago, and there was a very small exhibition in the back of the store. I saw this wonderful piece I liked that was painted on a windowpane. I called the gallery, that had the painting on exhibition, to inquire about the price. It had already been sold. They told me they had more of the artist's work in the gallery, but I wanted that specific piece. They asked for my number, and the artist called me back. He told me he would duplicate the windowpane I had seen in the bookstore. He did, and he signed it. The other one was not signed. It has a dragon and an angel on it. It is very different. It reminds me a little of a Basquiat. I found out later when I picked the piece up, that the artist lived in a homeless shelter. I like his work so much, that I buy his pieces quite often. Off on a tangent again...sorry about that.

Take care,
p-hazed