Okay, another image scanned from the book 20th Century Photography.  Hopefully we’ll not have any issues with this one, since I had no problem finding it elsewhere on the Internet.  This is quite a peculiar image, even for the 1970s.  It seems Hall is trying to say something here, only I’m not quite sure what.

Edit: one of our readers pointed out that the girl in this image looks a great deal like Samantha Gates, who has appeared nude in other media, most notably on the cover of Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy album and in Hajime Sawatari’s Alice book.  I didn’t notice before, but on closer inspection, I have to agree that this is probably Miss Gates.  The time period is right, and that face is pretty distinct.  Excellent eye!

Chadwick Hall – Untitled (1976)

Comments:

From Bill Tree on Septmeber 8, 2011
I think it’s all about the shoes.
Really, if it were about her contrasting innocence, she’d be barefoot. But the clodhoppers ground her firmly into the society of the men in the photo. In fact, with the boots on, from their viewpoint they’d never “know” she was nude (only the viewer would know).
If I were shooting it, she’d be barefoot, light, feminine, ephemeral youth.
So, since they’re there…it must be about the shoes…perhaps is was an ad for a 19th century shoemaker, who was playing on the fact that ankles were obscene.

From pipstarr72 on September 9, 2011
Ha ha! Yeah, I don’t think it’s a shoe ad. I do like your observation that from the p.o.v. of the men she could be fully clothed. What I was thinking was that the girl represented a reality that is completely removed from the world of these clearly very important men. The men see what they want to see; meanwhile, those of us facing the “issue” head on see it for what it is. In other words, it’s a comment about the nature of politicians and/or wealthy businessmen vs. average Joes. Or something.