Halloween is Pip’s favorite holiday so I expect he has a few special things planned for us this month. I tend to be less sentimental about such things, but I do plan to complete a post on Nan Goldin. She just came out with an amazing new book and I know Pigtails readers would like a peek.
Ionesco Revelations: A reader has been updating me on a new book by Simon Liberati (Eva Ionesco’s husband since 2013) about Eva’s childhood. The timeliness of this release has pressured me to put together a post on Irina Ionesco (the photographer) and her daughter (the model). According to interviews and press releases (in French), Irina’s use of Eva was coerced and there remains a lot of bad feelings. Because the book puts Irina in a bad light, she attempted, unsuccessfully, to prevent its publication through the courts. These circumstances puts Pigtails in an ethical dilemma. Our journalistic obligations compel us to offer an overview which would necessarily include some of the photographs in question. But it is also our wish to respect the feelings and reputation of Eva and avoid causing her distress needlessly. After some deliberation, I have decided to postpone the Ionesco post until I can more clearly ascertain the model’s position about how this story should be told.
Alice’s Anniversary: As mentioned before, this is the sesquicentennial of the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. One project is to publish a special edition of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, the basis of the final Wonderland story.
Lewis Carroll, Photographer? While trawling the internet, Pip found a site with some interesting photographs. The weird thing is that two of them are attributed to Lewis Carroll. First of all, photographs by this artist should properly be attributed to Charles Dodgson, not “Lewis Carroll”. More importantly, a quick look at these scans indicates a classic Edwardian style and methodology. Take a look for yourself at these red herrings and I wouldn’t mind someone coming forward with the name of the real artist.
[20160201] An associate has discovered the true identity of the first image and given Durieu’s recognizable style, it is likely that he is responsible for the second image as well.
Jean Louis Marie Eugène Durieu – (Title Unknown)
Lewis Carroll…not! (2)
Wearing Nothing but a Tiara: There is no shortage of cute photos on the internet. Here’s one called ‘La Princesse aux Escargots’ (The Princess of Snails).
The Virtues of Monsters: Although the purpose of this site is to cover the arts and media, it would be naive not to recognize that pedophiles visit this site and I felt it would be of service to mention something that came across my desk. It seems there is a schism between two groups of pedophiles who disagree over the ethics of sexual contact between adults and children. To keep the loud-mouthed extremists from dominating the debate, a more moderate group started their own forum that strikes a balance between acknowledging this kind of sexual orientation—if that is the proper expression for it—while respecting the rights of children not to be molested.
I just saw that Jock Sturges has new book out of Fanny and the Louis K. Meisel Gallery in New York has a show of the Fanny portraits from October 1st til November 14th.
I’d love to go to the show but I’m paranoid about driving into New York, the traffic is crazy.
Yes, I heard that the Fanny book is excellent and has some interesting revelations about Sturges. I will need to get that book before doing a post on that artist. Thank you, -Ron
To Susan,
There is plenty of public transportation, both within New York City and running into and out of New York City.
I think that the paragraph “The Virtues of Monsters” should not have been included. Beside being devoid of artistic or cultural content, it is a non-neutral statement about a controversial subject, so it will trigger again comments on that topic, as we see with the one by Jerrold on Oct. the 6th (attn. Jerrold: write me, I can indicate you a place where your topic would be welcome for a discussion).
Now the phrase “To keep the loud-mouthed extremists from dominating the debate” seems to hint that the “extremists” are the ones who call themselves “pro-choice” and do not support VirPed. They just seem “extremists” because official opinion of all hues (from left to right) is globally ever shifting to bigotry; also they are not really “loud-mouthed”. But I should again remind you that the real extremists are those who want to ban child nudity, destroy paintings and photographs, persecute artists and stifle any debate, those who drove Paul Christiano to suicide, those who want to have Graham Ovenden put in jail; these extremists are really arrogant and loud-mouthed.
As a “more moderate group”, I would not advise VirPed, people who brag too loudly about their “virtue”, but rather B4U-ACT, a non-judgemental organization devoted to removing stigma and helping MAPs lead a normal life.
Thank you for your opinion and although some discussion of pedophilia is inevitable on a site like this, I would like to keep it to a minimum. I must also confess to being unfamiliar with the “culture” if one can call it that. The reason I call them extremists is because I can’t shake the feeling that they are endorsing adult-child contact for strictly selfish reasons under the cover of open-minded debate. It feels as though they have been painted into a corner by the other extreme you refer to. I only called them loud-mouthed because from the article I read, they established an organized presence first and have reportedly put down those who expressed an opinion opposing adult-child contact, facilitating the creation of VirPed. Admittedly, I am not an expert on this matter so I expect I am foolishly walking into a minefield here. Nonetheless, I hope our society can manage to both protect children and allow MAPs to lead a normal life. But more importantly, I believe there is an informational gap regarding the medical/psychological basis for this “condition”–if you will forgive the use of that term. Regarding my use of the word “extremist”–whenever a spectrum of some sort is established, there are always two extremes. I did not mean to imply a personal judgment and I do not like the way the mainstream media uses the term and I never mean it in that sense. I expect those who have an intense interest in this subject could manage navigating the internet on their own and did not really need my input. I was just trying to be helpful. Thank you again for your input and I will now return my focus back to art and media. -Ron
The total ignorance about pedophiles is similar to the Covid-19 pandemic. Men are attracted to children for countless reasons and the very eroticism of individual children is discounted by most adults. Our complex computer culture has created a totally amoral and anarchic world!
I think I understand your point but given the ignorance of the subject, don’t you think you should have gone into more detail in order to educate those few who might want to learn? -Ron
Hello,
Irina Ionesco obviously has her perspective but its clearly a very difficult case. I’ve just read a beautifully written book review of Eva photographs which may be of interest – it may well prove useful to know more about how it came to be published so recently (2004)
http://www.whatisgoingon.org/fleeting.html
An article which people here may find interesting is on the New York Times website:
“BBC Casts Doubt on Claims of British Pedophile Ring”.
It concerns the issue of false allegations of molestation, and even false allegations of murder.
Here is the link.
I would like to note that it is not the purview of Pigtails to address issues of pedophilia in any substantial way, but I thought this article was interesting because it illustrates how the media has to keep the readers’ interest by changing the story. Undoubtedly, when the public becomes bored with stories of overzealous police investigations, the pendulum will swing the other way once again. A moderate, intelligent and rational approach just does not sell papers or airtime.
I would like to remind readers that comments on this site should address the issue of the portrayal of girls in the arts and media and comments too tangential will not be published.