Le Belle 2

Alter Ego

2007: based on “ Susanna and the Elders” (1555) by Tintoretto
There are versions by Rembrandt, Millet,Van Dyck, and others. The story is salacious and there lies its appeal, but it is also a story of attempted rape and the triumph of virtue. In my version I did not wish to create the impression that Susanna was being threatened, but admired.
I wanted to do a photo on the lake and this was the ideal subject. It was mid October but although a grey day, warm enough. I used a flash with a coloured gel to create something of the warmth of the original and enhance the baroque feel of a radiant subject in a wan context.The model Valentina had the form I was looking for, I am sure she would have appealed to the Baroque masters.
I wished to avoid the menace of the Tintoretto so that although the pose is recognisably the same I wanted to set a scene of enigmatic voyeurism. I sought a feeling of pleasing complicity between the man and woman, beauty and the beast.
When Susanna was published in Easy Living magazine the caption suggested that the photographer was in the boat. The fisherman as my alter ego........

To see the backstage documentary about the making of this and others of Le Belle click here

in vendita: