Bailey and Rankin

May 11, 2003 2:18 AM

Bailey + Rankin Down Under- Exhibition now showing in London. Beautiful? Shocking? Most striking is the contrast created between related subject matter by two of the world's top photographers. NSFW (unless you work in either a gynaecologists or a top model agency).
posted by Raindog (20 comments total)

Hmm.. I can finally use "wanky" as a double-entendre!
posted by cell at 2:26 AM on May 11, 2003

Jesus Christ, man. What a way to make vaginas look not only aesthetically unattractive, but also creepy. What kind of a freak is that guy? It's like looking at autopsy photos, or a David Lynch project that went horribly wrong.

The Rankin pics were great, though.
posted by son_of_minya at 2:41 AM on May 11, 2003

I love how the pop-up age warning forwards you to the page regardless of whether you press OK or Close.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 3:45 AM on May 11, 2003

Nice clam! ;-P
posted by mischief at 3:57 AM on May 11, 2003

It's great to know "that two of world's top photographers" talk like highschool freshmen.

“It was all Rankin’s suggestion…he’d seen a pussy photograph on the wall and we thought ‘oh shit lets do a pussy show together!’” -David Bailey on the beginning of the project.

Really, I don't see much value in these... As photographs or character studies. They're very simple in composition, to the point of being clinical [maybe that was the point?] but do very little to me in the way of inspiration.
posted by phylum sinter at 4:04 AM on May 11, 2003

talk like highschool freshmen.

I was imagining intonations more along Priscilla Queen of the Desert lines.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:19 AM on May 11, 2003

I agree with Minya about both Bailey and Rankin. Bailey talks like a vacuous moron and I suspect he is a misogynist. I dismiss his work in this exhibit and I leave a better exploration of his "mission statement":

“I decided that nobody was photographing pussies as pussies,” explains Bailey. “Everyone’s got one but nobody looks at them. As a subject, the thing that you notice is just how individual pussies are… much more individual than cocks.”

...to a more honest or humanistic artist.
posted by dgaicun at 4:25 AM on May 11, 2003

Hmmmmm, so shooting naked woman from floor level is what it takes to put them "in a position of dominance and control." I see now... It's all so clear to me.
posted by Samizdata at 5:22 AM on May 11, 2003

Hmmm. Rather a dark and clinical view from Bailey. And Rankin's photos look like a fashion shoot without the fashion - far less interesting to me than the nudes found in his portfolio.

I would prefer something a bit less anatomical to celebrate the subject - such as the Vagina Arts project.
posted by madamjujujive at 6:16 AM on May 11, 2003

...hmmm, i think i remember that one from a Georgia O'Keeffe painting.
posted by NGnerd at 6:19 AM on May 11, 2003

Wasn't 'oh shit lets do a pussy show together!’ in a lot of Mickey Rooney films?
posted by tommasz at 7:12 AM on May 11, 2003

i'm with son_of_minya. I'd like to photograph Bailey's balls in a really ugly fashion.
posted by dabitch at 7:23 AM on May 11, 2003

NSFW (unless you work in either a gynaecologists or a top model agency).

Wouldn't you have to work in a combination of the two?
posted by skryche at 9:02 AM on May 11, 2003

tommasz...do you mean Mickey Rourke?
posted by Snyder at 9:28 AM on May 11, 2003

Everyone’s got one? Where was I when this happened?
posted by Guy Smiley at 10:27 AM on May 11, 2003

Raindog:

Beautiful? Shocking?

Not to mention that version of Lord of the Rings they did.

Oh wait, that was Rankin-Bass. Too bad both still suck.
posted by mark13 at 3:23 PM on May 11, 2003

Did anyone notice that the book costs 350 pounds? Plus shipping and handling?
posted by Prospero at 8:35 PM on May 12, 2003

Man, what a waste of home dialup time. Raindog, no offense intended, but if you could do me a favor, next time you post a "shocking" NSFW link such as this, be sure to add this disclaimer: [WORTHLESS GARBAGE]

Thanks!
posted by soyjoy at 7:16 AM on May 13, 2003

soyjoy - I'll claim the "?" after shocking as my disclaimer there.
posted by Raindog at 1:04 PM on May 13, 2003

Sorry, I was reading too fast. But next time I'll have the key.
posted by soyjoy at 8:26 PM on May 13, 2003