Pages

Thursday, October 23, 2014

The Virgin Floozy In The Tub



Joelle - 1989


One of the most pleasing aspects in my ever diminishing profession as a photographer is to be able to photograph someone more than once. It especially interesting when time has transpired between the sittings.

Sometime in 1989 as I was planning my show of women photographed in tubs I went through the people I knew and asked them, “Would you pose for me in tub?” Without mentioning that I wanted them unclothed the idea of them being in a tub of water precluded clothing as such except for two of them who wore bikini bottoms. I found out quickly that the easiest way to have a woman take off all her clothes was to suggest a bathtub.

In my search for subjects once I exhausted my list of friends I went to Emily Carr to have lunch with my friend Derrick Carter, who at the time was teaching design at the former institute but know university. I asked him if he knew of any possibilities. He coincidentally pointed at young red-haired woman on the cafeteria line-up and said, “She would do it.”

In retrospect, I know realize that this whole procedure would now be deemed inappropriate by any education institution. But things were definitely different in that past century.

I got up and without any kind of introduction I went to the red haired woman and quickly told her of my project. I finished it with, “If I were you I would not do this.” To which she said, ‘I’ll do it.”

When my 21 year-old daughter Alexandra insisted in being photographed in the tub and I found it a bit uncomfortable I wavered but she was insistent. I decided that the safe route was to get her to pose at the same time as the red-haired Joelle who was also 21. They helped each other in the process and I was delighted with the results. I was particularly impressed by her delightful smile and that sparkle in her eyes.


Joelle - 2003
I have no memory on how it was that in June 2003 a visibly pregnant Joelle again posed in my bathtub.

Just a few days I posted a blog about my daughter’s tub photograph here. In facebook Joelle commented on the title of that blog in this way:

This title makes me laugh! That must have made me the ‘The Virgin Floozy’".

I talked to Joelle today and so that is the explanation for this day’s blog title.