Timeless Beauty
May 14, 2014 7:00 PM   Subscribe

A 101 year old woman requested that Anastasia Pottinger photograph her in the nude, but also ensure that she couldn't be identified.

The photographer's site has a few extra photos, but the UI is annoying.
posted by gman (12 comments total) 24 users marked this as a favorite
 
The way the photographer lighted (lit?) and photographed her skin reminds me of one of the classic landscape photographers of the southwest. I'm forgetting his name, but he was a contemporary of Georgia O'Keeffe, and maybe photographed her as well? Anyway, the lines and layers and textures are beautiful, and I'm glad she chose to emphasize that beauty rather than the opposite.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:09 PM on May 14, 2014


Are you thinking of Ansel Adams?

And I believe it's lit.
posted by axiom at 7:19 PM on May 14, 2014


More likely thinking of Steiglitz's annual photos of O'Keeffe in the desert. (Also looks like Weston's lighting style, though I don't think he ever shot wrinkles intentionally.)

But I just had someone ask me about doing a reference photo for them where they want to get all the pores and lines on an actor's face, which is something that's pretty much the opposite of what I usually do, and since I also don't usually do studio work, I'm having to think through what the hell setup I do need to make it work. So it's fun to see someone with a lot more lines to work with really pull them all out.
posted by klangklangston at 7:40 PM on May 14, 2014 [2 favorites]


Gorgeous. Flesh that looks like furrowed earth.
posted by bearwife at 7:44 PM on May 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


Related: a recent issue of LensWork featured a portfolio of elderly nudes. Gave a sense of humanity to an otherwise overlooked group.

I was impressed, at least.
posted by volk at 8:16 PM on May 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


I wish I could see the beauty in it, but I can't really deal with the mortality of it all. Meanwhile, I would count myself lucky to hit 101. Hopefully I will have adjusted to the concept by then.
posted by psycho-alchemy at 8:34 PM on May 14, 2014 [3 favorites]


I enjoyed the one with the necklace. It seemed to convey pride.
posted by bq at 8:57 PM on May 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


I didn't really expect to be as touched by this as I was. At the end, I wanted to hug her.
posted by darkstar at 11:01 PM on May 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


The way the photographer lighted (lit?) and photographed her skin reminds me of one of the classic landscape photographers of the southwest.

It's not so much lighting as post processing. It's also, and i wish i could find the post right now, the subject of a lot of criticism as another overdone thing like HDR. It's a sort of super, cranked to 11 version of the national geographic afghani girl photo. This is like, the photography equivalent of the wobbles in dubstep or something to the point that someone has even created a script that tries to auto-convert photos to look that way.

I might just be whining, and i think this is a cool series, but it's like checking out another cool song/album that's getting circulated around as awesome and going "oh, more stuff that sounds like disclosure" or nguzunguzu type avant garde beat stuff or whatever.

It's just a very, very currently trendy processing technique lately, is my point. It's sort of the post-punk of HDR.
posted by emptythought at 11:57 PM on May 14, 2014


I don't care, I thought they were awesome. Also very brave of the lady to pose nude. Huge kudos to both.
posted by marienbad at 3:12 AM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


It's just a very, very currently trendy processing technique lately, is my point.

I am not sure what trend you are referring.

These images seem minimally post-processed. I suspect the only post-processing done is just level adjustment. In fact, black and white film portraiture looks like without any work in the darkroom.

If this is "very, very currently trendy processing technique", what would be an example of something that is not?
posted by ianK at 4:41 AM on May 15, 2014


It's sweet that even at 101, she's shy.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:05 AM on May 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


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