the body as an aesthetic object.

what makes a body 'aesthetic'? The abject body.

Vile Bodies: Photography and the Crisis of Looking, Chris Townsend, Prestel, 1998

Townsend , C, 1998. Vile Bodies: Photography and the Crisis of Looking (A Channel Four book) [Paperback]. 5th ed. England : Prestel; illustrated edition edition.

in this book are images by Joel-Peter Witkin. 

Witkin's work is very dark, his images provoke and startle. his work focus' on 'freaks' and 'deformed people' other themes in his work includes death and corpses. 

here are some examples.

METAL ON METAL: Joel Peter Witkin's transgressive photographic art. 2012. METAL ON METAL: Joel Peter Witkin's transgressive photographic art. [ONLINE] Available at: http://metalonmetalblog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/joel-peter-witkins-transgressive.html. [Accessed 24 April 2012].

the kiss.

Reminiscent of portrait as a vanity. 

i find these photographs controversial to look at and not what we would class as normal. in our society, we turn our noses up at the 'ugly' yet we are still so intrigued with death.There is nothing more fascinating death because we all have death in common, yet it is a mystery to us all.  It's an uncertainty and a real loss of innocence when we become aware of death.