Purple Magazine
— S/S 2007 issue 7
New York Nudes
photography by MARLENE MARINO
“I want to create very pretty feminine images of naked women. Maybe it’s a buffer against the ugly world we live in. But I find it alluring, and always have. I want to imbue them with an aura of nostalgia for a personal history, but not a desire for a happier time and place. My images are not about finding the right face, or about expressing a style or an attitude about life.
For these nudes, I construct tableaux with an aura of nostalgia and modern elegance, as if they were shot by a lover. In these photographs, the models interpret early 20th century prostitutes who are comfortable in their skin. There is an attitude of leisurely sensuality.
It’s silly to view them merely as objects for our gaze, even though they attract it, because they look at you as much, if not more, than you look at them. The subject of empowerment is also old hat, where female sexuality is concerned. My photographs embody a female perspective where taste is the only morality. The models are sexually confident and exhibit a sleekness, a sense of authority, and an element of playful idleness.”
NEW YORK NUDES will be exhibited in Berlin at Andreas Murkudis Gallery, May 2007.
