by Ellen von Unwerth
Elle Macpherson, New York, 2004
Artist: Ellen von Unwerth
Made in New York in 2004, this gelatin silver photograph seats Elle Macpherson at a hotel breakfast table, legs crossed in strappy heels, a teacup raised in one hand and a broadsheet newspaper held across her lap in the other, eyes wide and mouth open in mock surprise. Von Unwerth shoots it in crisp black and white against patterned hotel carpet and a laid room-service table. The newspaper is the whole joke, the only thing standing between the pose and full exposure.
Read as fine art, the picture is a piece of comic burlesque, the model playing the startled ingenue while the paper’s grave headlines sit inches from bare skin. The theme is wit and timing, high finance and undress deadpanned together, the subject entirely in on the gag and running it with perfect composure. Von Unwerth’s signature is exactly this staging of glamour as comedy, provocation defused by humour while her subject keeps command of the frame. The work suits a bold, characterful interior with a sense of humour and speaks to collectors drawn to fashion photography’s crossover into fine art. Ellen von Unwerth’s photographs are issued as limited editions, each print part of a controlled run.
Sizes & Editions
42.5 × 52.7 cm (16¾ × 20¾ in), Gelatin Silver Print, frame included, edition of 15
Size: medium
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