It’s been a while since I’ve taken more than 30 minutes to really read an issue of UK Vogue and even the boyf commented that I was studying the new UK Vogue June issue for an abnormally long amount of time. However, the main draw for me was the ‘Orient Excess’ editorial photographed by Javier Vallhonrat and styled by Lucinder Chambers as it a) features an old favourite of mine Elise Crombez who looks so radically/refreshingly different here and b) is accompanied and really SHOULD be viewed in tandem with a really insightful article by Rana Kabbani who dispells the Western notion of an Ottoman harem by recounting the tales of her own grandmother’s REAL harem life in Damascus. Ultimately it criticises the way in which Western artists portray Orientalist life, to be fully demonstrated at the upcoming Tate Britain ‘The Lure of the East’ exhibition. Kabbani has expanded on this cultural misrepresentation in ‘Imperial Fictions’ which definitely follows the Edward Said ‘Orientalism’ school of thought in that the Orient has been romanticised and misrepresented (people who like to bring up this book when criticisng me for using the word ‘Oriental’ should know that I have read this book numerous times and once again without sounding like an ol’ broken record…it’s a UK/US difference that you might not be aware of!).
The women that the paintings have portrayed as being passive, still and as exotic as possible is sort of overturned in the editorial though where I think the photographer has taken note of what Kabbani had to say about the lack of human feeling in those old paintings by Occidents. The ‘noisy, active, ferocious, brave, hard-working, opinionated and fun’ behaviour that Kabbani witnessed in the harem women of her grandmother’s generation has translated well to Elise Crombrez looking far more complex than what those paintings suggest as someone who has struggled (cue sweaty hair…) and basically given harem depiction an ‘edge’. Anyway, a good little read that kept me more or less occupied on the traffic-laden bus ride and of course, the editorial speaks for itself…
Hi Susie! Thanks for this post!! Was this article in the current issue of Vogue?
I too am fed up with the whole ‘exoticism’ that surrounds women of the East. It is so far removed from reality. We are women just like any others around the world. We work, we struggle, we live, we love. There’s a really good poem performed by Palestinian poet Suheir Hammad, about this very topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIZkmM0ieUw&eurl=http://savoir-faire786.blogspot.com/
I think it sums it up quite well!
Keep up the good work 🙂
Yes, it’s in the issue with Agyness Deyn on the cover….
Will go and watch that poem reading now…. thanks Hayah!
That is gorgeous, it almost looks like a beautiful painting in an old book. I love to see shoots like this that take fashion photography to another level 🙂 thanks for sharing susie x
Interesting, the photo’s are quite beautiful to look at, very visually rich. I think the western ideas about harems feature in novels and fiction as well as art. In modern fiction harem women are usually portrayed as being passive, bored and self indulgent.
Yay Elise (she’s one of my favourite models)! I was wondering where she’d got to, too..
As for that bit about ‘Oriental’ women, sadly it’s all too true. I’m really rather sick and tired of magazine articles and people talking about how ‘different’ Indian women are from ‘Western’ ones, as if we’re some new species and all the (exotic) same. If there’s anything out there that questions the cliches, it’s excellent I say.
wow susie! now i have reason to buy the june issue of vogue…first i also love elise crombez and it has been a long time seeing here in a really good shot and second im doing a piece on globalisaton and fashion..this will hopefully give me more insights…brainpicking time 😉
wow…thats really gorgeous! I love love love it.
This ed is pure eye candy
Well done on the Said, Susie. I can barely get through the shortish excerpt in my Norton anthology of theory and criticism.
I enjoyed the lushness of the images. They were very suggestive, but not in a way that I found off-putting. A relief, frankly. I think I’m just plain jaded these days.
Hi! I’m a long time reader and a first time commenter, I love your blog! 🙂
I wanted to let you know that there is a really good book out about this subject by Leila Sebbar called “Sherazade” Its one of my favourite books and it basically about a modern Algerian girl in France dealing with all these Orientalist stereotypes and what not. Its beautifully written if you ever want to check it out!
I love these luscious photos from Vogue. The Tate exhibit just left the US where it was on in Connecticut. Although I tried to go see it, I never made it so thank you for bringing it up. Now, I know it’ll be on in London and as it happens, I’ll be in London the last weekend in August which is also the last weekend for the exhibit. I will go see it if it’s the last thing I do!
Very Gauguin.
I really want to read the article that accompanies this now. How was real harem life..?
Beautiful Images, Said’s text is still so relevant to today’s society! The notion of ‘the other’ has always fascinated me.
the styling here is absolutely inspiring