MiPO 2005


1. 2004 Died 83 Losing control Car, Los Angeles Images Highly-made up statuesque women Nude but for their stiletto heels A woman walking in the rain A woman in a kitchen Predominant subject Fashion shoots Femmes Secrètes A World Without Men 1970s Born into a rich family Weimar republic Berlin Decadence and smoky nostalgia Every film, poster, song or cabaret In love with Marlene Dietrich The American School, age 12 Obsessive fascination Strikingly tall models Wearing glossily lacquered hairstyles Seamed stockings 1940s Bought first camera 1932 Situation in Berlin Increasingly more dangerous 1938 Left for Singapore Raffles Hotel Married photographer/actress Tableaux vivants Whimsical cruelties Dominatrix Photographer/voyeur All viewers fellow-accomplices 2. 1956 Pair spent a year London Before moving Paris Shift to French Vogue Elle, Nova, Marie-Claire, Stern, Playboy International attention Art should not kill Artificiality Everything that is beautiful Is a fake 1975 Fashion portraits New York, Paris, Amsterdam Japan soon followed Particular fetishistic interests Models in handcuffs, trapped in cars Wounded by bullets, dead on the floor A Venice hotel, a swimming pool The Mediterranean sea Books followed German, French, American Meticulous quality Major collections Victoria and Albert Museum Nikon Photo Gallery Rarely interviewed 1978 55-minute interview Thames Television I never make the knots real tight What at first Looks Like a whip Is in fact only The camera release (Corrupted text, based on obituary in The Guardian and Independent,, January 26, 2004)
Poem © Todd Swift 2005. All rights reserved.