Joel-Peter Witkin has always ranked as one of my favorite photographers/artists. He is responsible for some of the most morbid, horrific and intriguing work ever captured via a camera. His work often deals with such themes as death, corpses (or pieces of them), and various outsiders such as dwarfs, transsexuals, hermaphrodites, and physically deformed people.
Some of his works, namely those with corpses in them, have had to been created in Mexico in order to get around restrictive US laws. His complex tableaux often recall religious episodes or famous classical paintings. Because of the transgressive nature of the contents of his pictures, his works have been labeled exploitative and have sometimes shocked public opinion. His art was often marginalized because of this challenging aspect.
Witkin claims that his vision and sensibility were initiated by an episode he witnessed when he was just a small child, a car accident that occurred in front of his house in which a little girl was decapitated.
“It happened on a Sunday when my mother was escorting my twin brother and me down the steps of the tenement where we lived. We were going to church. While walking down the hallway to the entrance of the building, we heard an incredible crash mixed with screaming and cries for help. The accident involved three cars, all with families in them. Somehow, in the confusion, I was no longer holding my mother’s hand. At the place where I stood at the curb, I could see something rolling from one of the overturned cars. It stopped at the curb where I stood. It was the head of a little girl. I bent down to touch the face, to speak to it — but before I could touch it someone carried me away.”
Creepy all the way! I have one of his books in my collection and every single time I offer it to friends for a perusal, they are often shocked and blown away by the imagery on offer.
21st Editions, a company that handcrafts and publishes extremely limited runs of books is releasing two editions of ‘The Journal of Joel-Peter Witkin: The Maxims of Men Disclose Their Hearts’.
The Classic Edition ($1500) and the Deluxe Edition ($8500). Obviously with such a price range, we are talking serious collectors here with incredibly deep pockets!
More info is avaible at 21st Editions’ website.
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