Shooting the Kids

I don't usually go in for the cutesy stuff -- my vision comes from a darker place -- but if you're in the mood for a giggle, this posting on Flavorpill (an amusing web site) is just the thing.

The idea is a photographer -- Bill Gekas -- has shot a series of "stylized, clever homages to his favorite painters ..." using his five year old daughter dressed in appropriate garb.  There are two sides to this coin:   William Wegman shooting his weimaraners with hats on; and Sally Mann shooting her pre-adolescent daughters nude.

Me?   That Mann work has always bugged me.  Seemed waaaay too exploitative of those kids.  Dogs, on the other hand, are fair game for exploitation so long as when you're done with the stupid hat you pat them on the head, give them a bacon treat and take them for a long walk.

This is the money shot ...

Or perhaps this one ...

But the whole thing is charming.

As for the dogs, I chose this one at random out of about a zillion google images of Wegman's work ...

If you're one of those literalists and are insisting on a picture of a dog in a silly hat, there's this ...

And last, Mann's portrait of (who I believe is) her 6 year old daughter Virginia ...

Which, at least to my mind, is a bit creepy.  And this is one of the least creepy of the lot.  I'd print one of the shots of her older daughters but I don't want to get arrested.