If you want to be confronted with unsettling imagery that challenges conventional aesthetics and societal norms, the best option is to look at Steven Klein. Klein's work frequently juxtaposes high fashion with disquieting imagery, exploring themes of commodification, celebrity identity, and the rawness of human experience. He blends the elegance of fashion with the rawness of animalistic elements, pushing viewers to confront the complexities beneath glamour.
Fig.1. Bondage Warriors 01, 2009
Fig.2. Valley of the Dolls Image No. 04, 2005
Fig.2a
Fig.3. Valley of the Dolls Image No. 07, 2005
Fig.4. Valley of the Dolls Image No. 13, 2005
Fig.4a
Horse Pool
Born on April 30, 1965, in Cranston, Rhode Island, Steven Klein studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he honed his artistic vision. Transitioning to photography, Klein quickly gained recognition for his provocative and cinematic style, capturing the raw and often unsettling aspects of his subjects. In 2005, Klein collaborated with model Guinevere Van Seenus for a Vogue shoot titled "Horse Pool." The series juxtaposed high fashion with unsettling imagery, featuring Van Seenus submerged in a pool with a horse, creating a surreal and disconcerting tableau. This work exemplifies Klein's ability to blend the elegance of fashion with the rawness of animalistic elements, challenging the viewer's perception of beauty and normalcy.
Fig.5. Girl in Pool with Horse, 2005
Fig.5a
Madonna
This work is less about fashion than it is about the abrupt intrusion of the animal into the civilised. The horse does not make the image dangerous; it makes the safety of the fashion image impossible to sustain. Klein consistently reaches for this kind of juxtaposition: the luxury item and the brute fact of the body, the aspirational surface and the thing that undermines it. Vogue editor Phyllis Posnick once observed of Klein: 'Steven is the only photographer I know who can turn a child's inflatable pool toy into a sexual predator.' "Horse Pool" is that capacity taken to its logical, unsettling extreme. His project with Madonna, titled "X-STaTIC PRO=CeSS," delved into the commodification of fame and the complexities of celebrity identity. The project included a 44-page portfolio in W Magazine and an exhibition at Deitch Projects in New York. The images depicted Madonna in various provocative and unsettling scenarios, such as contorting her body on a dilapidated bed and interacting with a coyote, challenging the sanitized image of celebrity and exposing the raw, unfiltered aspects of fame.
Fig.6. X-STaTIC PRO=CeSS 08, 2002
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