Anna Skladmann's Little Adults

April 29, 2009 7:26 AM

Anna Skladmann's Little Adults.Photographs of the children of the ultra-rich in Russia.
posted by chunking express (51 comments total)

Disturbing, or should I say...distur-bling!
posted by Burhanistan at 7:35 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

Fuck-ups of the future unite...
posted by fatfrank at 7:42 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

It's sad that even today and even for the ultra-rich, most cannot afford to purchase lightbulbs.
posted by DU at 7:43 AM on April 29 [6 favorites]

What's that quote about how society is a thin veneer for the fuckup that is most humans' psyches?
posted by kldickson at 7:43 AM on April 29

If I had seen Children of the Corn, would it be an appropriate reference to this?

Also, I love how this guy clearly just got back from the lego stock market.
posted by Uppity Pigeon #2 at 7:46 AM on April 29

Where do I get a gold AK-47 lamp like that? That's is Da Bomba
posted by spicynuts at 7:46 AM on April 29

Da Tsar Bomba, spicynuts.
posted by kldickson at 7:47 AM on April 29

A hydrogen bomb is going to make me a gold AK-47 lamp?
posted by spicynuts at 7:54 AM on April 29

Where do I get a gold AK-47 lamp like that?

I wanted one a few years ago, but check out the price tag.
posted by gman at 7:55 AM on April 29

What's with all of the spooky twins? "Come play with us, da?"
posted by adipocere at 7:56 AM on April 29

So I was riding my Big Wheel around the hotel hallways while dad was downstairs writing AND SUDDENLY.
posted by The Straightener at 7:56 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

They all look like extras from the crazy party scenes in Daywatch.
posted by Happy Dave at 7:57 AM on April 29

In Soviet Russia, you tell Chris Matthews to have a seat over there!
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 7:57 AM on April 29 [5 favorites]

Why? Why? Why? Why would a mother let her daughter be photographed in a bikini and high heels at six?
posted by anniecat at 7:58 AM on April 29 [4 favorites]

Well, at least they aren't benadryled up and dressed like pumpkins.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:59 AM on April 29 [7 favorites]

These disturb me.
posted by spinturtle at 8:05 AM on April 29

just a small step away from child porn... yep, that's what we needed here....
posted by HuronBob at 8:06 AM on April 29

anniecat, my wife was once a live-in nanny for an ultra-rich family for two summers. Six- and nine-year-old dressed in bikinis every day at the beach. (Expensive designer ones of course)
posted by mkb at 8:09 AM on April 29

I'm sure it says something about me and my issues with class status, but I'm just going to admit that I kind of hate them all right off the bat.
posted by Skot at 8:12 AM on April 29 [2 favorites]

Six- and nine-year-old dressed in bikinis every day at the beach. (Expensive designer ones of course)

Why are rich people so gross?
posted by adamdschneider at 8:13 AM on April 29 [5 favorites]

These photos don't reflect any kind of reality - they're just photos of kids who the photographer used for her own needs. Depressing.

Instead of hating these kids, you should feel sorry for them.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:18 AM on April 29 [2 favorites]

Why? Why? Why? Why would a mother let her daughter be photographed in a bikini and high heels at six?

Come to New York City. Take a south bound ride on the D, Q or F. Cast an eye on what the Mom's are wearing.
posted by spicynuts at 8:23 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

Apparently, the Russian word for "cheese" is a sullen look.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 8:24 AM on April 29 [13 favorites]

These photos don't reflect any kind of reality

Sure they do. They reflect the reality that they've got piles of money that they never had to do anything to earn.

Instead of hating these kids, you should feel sorry for them.

*tries*

It's not taking. Anyway, smart-ass remarks notwithstanding, I know where you're coming from, and I appreciate the point of view, but . . . man, I don't know. You're probably a nicer person than me. Most people are.
posted by Skot at 8:25 AM on April 29

> Instead of hating these kids, you should feel sorry for them.

Wealth is indeed a trial, and people who spend the majority of their time distracted by expensive possessions and hedonism are among the most impoverished.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:28 AM on April 29 [2 favorites]

Van and Ada.
posted by stavrogin at 8:30 AM on April 29 [3 favorites]

I'm really not a "me too" poster (I think my record will back me up on this, here and elsewhere on the 'net), but I had this thought when I saw the first picture, scrolled through the rest, got to the bikini shot, and came over to say what HuronBob said.
posted by yiftach at 8:32 AM on April 29

Child Porn? I'm not so sure. Anyway, I found this over at Conscientious, and he also linked to a great article on Art and Child Pornography Laws.
posted by chunking express at 8:37 AM on April 29

In Soviet Russia, you tell Chris Matthews to have a seat over there!

They are catching predators on Hardball now?
Man, MSNBC really has become sensationalist.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 8:41 AM on April 29 [2 favorites]

From the essay:

Dijkstra is perhaps best known for her portraits of children and adolescents posed on beaches in swimsuits. While the obvious association is the traditional one of children with nature (the exposed body on a beach, standing against the sky), in a subtle way the swimsuits do the opposite, by summoning a range of social and photographic associations: with snapshots of children on vacation (signs of leisure as well as physical well-being), with advertisements for swimsuits, with glamour photographs of adult women bathing beauties or adult muscle-men. Try this mental exercise. Compare Dijkstra's photograph with those types of conventional photographs. They just don't quite match. At a simple level, hers are not cute or glamorous. She has declined to choose conventionally pretty children over which our gaze would glide and instead snags our attention with the latent beauty in ordinary, quirky children and adolescents. By contrast, conventional swimsuit pictures expose children's bodies to give us simple pleasures justified by a costume, while hers demand something more complicated, offering us the physical presence of children while making us think about it in difficult ways.

posted by chunking express at 8:44 AM on April 29

Wealth is indeed a trial, and people who spend the majority of their time distracted by expensive possessions and hedonism are among the most impoverished.

"If this is torture, chain me to the wall."
posted by adamdschneider at 8:46 AM on April 29

I feel sad that those girls will probably think that how much they weigh now, pre-puberty and maybe a foot shorter than they will end up being, is what they should weigh for the rest of their lives.
posted by spec80 at 8:48 AM on April 29

Oh no, not kids in bikinis! That's worse than Hitler!

I'm trying to figure out why child pageants squick me out and this doesn't. I think it's because in child pageants, the kids are forced to spend hours, days and weeks traveling, sitting around waiting, rehearsing, getting done up, getting browbeaten and generally being treated as prize cattle. It's abusive, coercive and takes away from their childhood. Whereas in this, the kids seem comfortable and relaxed and not badgered.
posted by fleetmouse at 8:50 AM on April 29

This reminds me of Lauren Greenfield's Fast Forward.
posted by joe vrrr at 8:59 AM on April 29

13

I play this little game with myself when I see a post on the frontpage that begets an oft-repeated joke. Before I click in, I guess how many comments it will take for the joke to appear. I had 3. I'm way off this morning.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:00 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

Oh no, not kids in bikinis! That's worse than Hitler!

yeah, you think that's bad, I heard some of those crazy Russians let their babies run around NAKED!!!1!! We better get cracking on that missle shield because these people are Pure Evil.

I don't know, it's a set of photos. My outrage-boner is pretty flaccid on this one.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:05 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

The thing to keep in mind is that these images are clearly staged. Some of the images are a little creepy, but that's the deliberate intent of the photographer, not an unintended consequence.
posted by Xoebe at 9:05 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

So the question is why would the parents consent to dressing and shooting their kids like this? Do they think it's cool, are these kids actually models, or are they just down with her project? What is the deal?

Also, just throwing this into the mix of creepy kid-grownup imagery.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:39 AM on April 29

Even as a 32 year old male, I really want this little girl's Diddl.

And instantly an innocent comment makes this thread an paedophile magnet...
posted by twine42 at 9:44 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

"Come play with us...forever and ever and ever and ever..."
posted by slogger at 9:47 AM on April 29

Sure they do. They reflect the reality that they've got piles of money that they never had to do anything to earn.

Oh, yes, that reminds me.

*yells* Kids! Get your asses back to work! That lamp isn't going to pay for itself!
posted by graventy at 9:48 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

Dumb question: so who dressed up these children? The photographer? (If so, then how then is this a commentary on the wealthy? ...)
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 9:54 AM on April 29

Apparently, the Russian word for "cheese" is a sullen look.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 11:24 AM on April 29

That statement contains a profound truth.
posted by Krrrlson at 10:45 AM on April 29 [3 favorites]

The lighting and costuming is a wee bit heavy handed, wouldn't you say?

These aren't documentary photographs: it's not "this is what the children of rich Russians look like," it's "this is what Anna Skladmann chooses to make these children look like."
posted by ook at 11:04 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

In Soviet Russia, you tell Chris Matthews to have a seat over there!

In Soviet Russia, photographs take you!
posted by hpliferaft at 11:11 AM on April 29

That statement contains a profound truth.

I don't know if profound is the word. Concrete might be a better word. Irrefutable. Undeniable. Profound implies there is some kind of mystery to it.
posted by spicynuts at 11:42 AM on April 29

Wealth is indeed a trial, and people who spend the majority of their time distracted by expensive possessions and hedonism are among the most impoverished

So the idea here is that we despise these kids because they were born to wealthy parents, and that we also are assuming that these kids are spoiled hedonists, unlike the hard-working children of middle and lower class families? The children should have been born, looked around at their wealthy parents and ran off to work in the mines so they could earn their keep? Is that what we're saying?

I really don't understand mefites sometimes.

These aren't documentary photographs: it's not "this is what the children of rich Russians look like," it's "this is what Anna Skladmann chooses to make these children look like."

This, 1000 times.
posted by !Jim at 11:48 AM on April 29 [2 favorites]

People may want to read her artist statement.
posted by chunking express at 11:56 AM on April 29

I looked through the pictures. I am hard pressed to find anything about them that couldn't be said of photos of rich kids anywhere in the world. Being Russian doesn't seem to add much (OK maybe the AK-47 lamp but other than that...)
posted by caution live frogs at 1:18 PM on April 29

In a similar vein.
posted by tellurian at 5:15 PM on April 30

Apparently, the Russian word for "cheese" is a sullen look.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 11:24 AM on April 29

I'm a bit late to this party, but here's a small bit from a recent article about just that very thing.
posted by xorry at 10:19 AM on May 16