The Lunacy of Clowns

"The images that mobilize conscience are always linked to a given historical situation. The more general they are, the less likely they are to be effective."
~ Susan Sontag

Erwin Olaf is a Dutch photographer who mixes photojournalism, studio photography and CGI (computer generated imagery). Bizarre. Controversial. Symbolic. Imaginative. I'd like him to teach me a thing or two on photography.

Self Portrait (I Wish. I Am. I Will Be.)

The Royal Blood series are simple white on white, and depict various aristocrats who have suffered untimely deaths... Diana's mercedes, Marie Antoinette's decapitation, Elisabeth of Bavaria's bleeding heart (minus the corset).

'All dressed up and no place to go'... His New York Couture features a different fashion designer in each shot, each model blending or bleeding into the background. Lacroix is below.

Olaf's interview

Paradise the Club is a bunch of clowns in their lunacy. Frankly, I think clowns are freaks. I mean, seriously:

WTF??!?!!

However, I do like what Olaf has done in these shots. It's a big colourful collage of fetish. So if clowns are your thing, you might like this one.

A little taste from other groupings:

Chessman XXXII (Chessmen series)

Chanel (Fashion Victims series)

Cindy C. 75 (Mature series)

Check out his website for more in these series and the rest of his work... Or just watch the vid:

Historia Naturae, 1967

Jan Švankmajer is a surrealist artist/filmmaker from Czech... I adore his work. It's bizarre, and at times, horrific. He has been a huge influence to Tim Burton and the Quay Brothers. Historia Naturae is an amusing piece. The music (by Zdeněk Liška) is hilariously perfect for it.

And the end of natural history is death...



"In the old magicians’ books, they say that if we wish to exorcise a demon or a ghost, then we have to give them a name… and I think that is precisely the method I use to get rid of my anxieties and fears. I give them a name in my films." - Jan Švankmajer

Defining Beauty: A Reminder

The image of Lizzie Miller is from the September issue of Glamour magazine. There's been some hype about it, because it's not a picture of your everyday size 2 magazine model. She's size 12-14 and weighs *gasp* 180lbs. But tell me, does she not look fabulous? I think so.

I'm glad we're getting some more representation on the varying shapes & sizes of women out there. We need a shift in the way we think, and how we measure what is beautiful, acceptable, or desired. We need to redefine 'Beauty', for all its sizes.

This is the kind of image that I would assume many women can relate to. Someone real. Someone happy and confident in her own body, despite it's 'imperfections'. Which really, in the big scheme of things, are so small they are not even worth thinking about. Obviously, she doesn't. It's the rest of us, that have been suckered into this belief that women should have teenie tiny waists, flat as a wall abs, perfect breasts, and wrinkle-free, dimple-free smooth flawless skin...but every woman should feel beautiful in her own skin, whether size 2 or size 14, and not be measured by the single standard:


The reality is: we come in different shapes and sizes. What is a healthy size for one woman, might be different than the next. Eventually all skin wrinkles, tits sag and gravity takes its toll. We all have imperfections. The question is: who really cares? Let's get on with the things that matter and love ourselves for who we are. Beauty, flaws, and all...

Sex With Ducks

So if you haven't checked out this fab duo yet, Garfunkel and Oates, here is a little sneak peek... They are hilarious.

This is a satirical response to a televangelist(aka crazy religious nut)'s quote on the legalization of gay marriage...