Posts Tagged ‘Hermes’
When Hermes meets horses
The play by Peter Shaffer, where a psychiatrist attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological sexual obsession with horses, is reminiscent of the work of US photographer Monica Stevenson she uses luxury goods such as Tiffany bracelets and Hermes Scarves on and next to equines as the focus for some of her major work.
This piece of a horse wearing a luxury scarf ‘Hermes Scarf Horse’ won Stevenson a place in the ‘Advertising photographers of America’. It makes you ask the following questions inwardly, is that a horse? What is tied around its ears? and touches on the use of animals as commodities. It makes you study the scarf in a way that you might not normally, were it simply presented on a model or in a Vogue or Vanity Fair centre spread.
A lot of Monica’s personal work extends to equine photography and so it was a natural progression for her to mix her work in advertising for luxury brands such as Tiffany and Co, Cartier, Hermes and Gucci with her love for horses.
Her photographs are potent and sexy, although, is there is something wrong about liking it? It feels as if Stevenson is pulling back the curtain and unveiling a taboo, daring us to keep watching.
The work has almost a sadomasochistic edge to it, highlighted by the use of horse and human hair wound around Iron stirrups and leather straps, oddly enough a similar thing is depicted on this vintage Hermes scarf.
Stevenson also used bugs in her work, something that isnt instantly recognisable in fashion photography. She holds the piece up to you, as she is saying “Look at it, really take time to look!”.
What I love about her work is that it encapsulates a story in each shot, takes you into a fairytale world of Stevenson’s making, and although this world may not be a beautiful one much like the mind of Equus’s young hero, it is an intriguing one, and one that you seek to understand and return to again and again.