Make Love Not War - Steven Meisel’s Controversial Series
(18 votes, average: 4.72 out of 5)
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EDITORIAL: Make Love, not War
MAGAZINE: Vogue Italia September 2007
MODELS: Agyness Deyn, Missy Rayder, Caroline Trentini, Raquel Zimmermann,
Julia Stegner, Daniel Pimentel, Blaine Cook, CHad Dunn, Chad White, Isaac Haldeman,
Nathan Nesbitt, Oraine Barrett, Rodrigo Calazans, Travone Hill
PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Meisel
CREDIT: www.style.it
In the September issue of Italian vogue, fashion photographer Steven Meisel (the man behind Madonna’s controversial Sex book) stirs up controversy with his glamorized imagery of the war in Iraq. His ‘Make Love Not War’ series (mostly) depicts sweaty, dirty soldiers in the middle of a war-zone interacting with models in a very “heated fashion” Apparently, claims are being made by ‘Women In Media and News’ suggesting this series of photographs are pornographic and evoke sexualizations of horrific situations, also saying that violence is erotic. Am quiet certain everyone would agree by this “surface” reading, but is that the point of the message? What do they mean to you? Check out the rest.
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November 20th, 2007 at 10:04 am
too kitsch for me!
November 23rd, 2007 at 4:42 pm
It’s not controversial. It’s just bad art.
November 24th, 2007 at 7:55 am
@bc - There’s no such thing as bad art; just good or bad taste. Therefore, simply saying it’s “bad art” would be inane without a rationale explanation underpinning your opinion.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:07 am
trash! A typical sleasy American trash! the subject mix of military and sexy mucho is inane and amounts to nothing more than stylistic kitsch! huh, it’s not even art!
November 28th, 2007 at 1:18 am
@Jono - Interesting point and you’re entitled to your opinion, but is that the point of the message?
Hint: Try to analyze this series beyond the sexy, mucho, fashion, American trash, kitsch or whatever - most would see that!
November 28th, 2007 at 9:42 am
It’s a fashion magazine. No matter what they are “really saying”, you have to accept that it’s a fashion magazine publishing stylistic photographs of these bizarre caricatures of the masculine and feminine, of Americans, and of war as fashion. And what do military uniforms - UNIFORMS - have to do with a fashion magazine anyway?
November 30th, 2007 at 6:46 am
Definitely a genre that needs further exploration. While a bit immature, it certainly illicits further thought on a controversial topic.
Bravo to the artist.
November 30th, 2007 at 7:31 am
@Syngin - Intriguing. My question to you would be: Do these images displayed in the context of a magazine, decrease the message/meaning given to the series as a whole?
@Syngin - Am totally with you on that. It’s very much a transpiring powerful genre, hence
controversy.
November 30th, 2007 at 11:47 am
I agree… it’s not really controversial, it’s just inane. And there certainly is such a thing as bad art. This is pretty much it. It is trying so hard to be provocative and controversial, and yet…it’s not. These photos have nothing to do with the Iraq war. They’re just an odd mix of sex and soldiers. It’s derivative of just about any kind of advertising photography we see today. Except he’s using models dressed like soldiers. So original. Woo Hoo.
December 1st, 2007 at 1:32 am
@ern - some really interesting points there. We sometimes analyze art as controversial,
without establishing some kind of criteria of what can be considered controversial in the first place.
December 1st, 2007 at 8:40 pm
[…] futility of war. Steven Meisel raises the same questions in this fantastic post for the blog paintalicious.org ( some images are NSFW) In the September 2007 issue of Italian vogue, fashion photographer Steven […]
December 5th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Steven Meisel has created some brilliantly composed images here, the way the each photo portrays jealousy and tension, along with conflict and struggles, all wraped up in this quote: “sleasy American trash mix of military and sexy mucho” is an interesting way of showing his subject matter, which in the end is the “fashion and clothes” of the females. noting also that all the images are constructed with the all important subject matter central to all the events occurring in the images. these images are of course bound by the medium they have to sell, and to the people they have to aesthetically please. yet I feel the artist has ultimately been able to show his aims, the supposed machoness of war playing off against the supposed classiness of high fashion. the anger invoked by these images, all appear from disgust, disgust at what? the vulgar portrayal of the idealised western body? or is it anger at the portrayal of war as this trivial pursuit not to fretted over? the photographer has certainly been able to play on such basic feelings.
December 5th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I thought the piece was hot…So what??
December 5th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
@Will - Fantastic analysis. Am with you on all that. Maisel’s photo-series leaves many questions unanswerable. And, to a certain degree, the anger they invoke is what we bring to the table - so to speak. We could therefore say these pieces to be very emotive. For me his aims are a double edged sword (no pun intended). Simply put, are the images propagandistic? Or (like you said) do they aim to make a mockery of war. Either way, I’d like to think of them addressing the latter.
December 6th, 2007 at 1:41 am
[…] The most beaufitul photoshoot that I have ever seen. More here. […]
December 18th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
[…] i love love love this series. as in.=) i know im a few months late, i rarely read vogue. i dont buy girlie mags but i love this shoot. the concept too. for more of the photos, click here. […]
December 27th, 2007 at 5:40 am
that was absolutely great! IDOL!
January 14th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
[…] Meisel’s latest ‘atrocity porn’ is now […]
January 19th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
[…] exactly how I felt when I saw this photo series from an Italian Vogue magazine. I thought these two words at the same time: WRONG and […]
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I think there’s a great deal of irony to be further explored here. Specifically, the photo of the ’soldier’ with the overlay of the off-color American flag made me laugh out loud. The point of the shoot may actually be that it is frivolous immaturity and greed that have driven the ‘war’ on ‘terror’. Perhaps a better way to go about it would be photoing imagery that depicts sleazy politicians raping innocent Iraqi civilians. Either way, the thought seems to have been there.
April 26th, 2008 at 11:28 am
[…] is also the infamous Make Love Not War series that glamifies war as sexy ;( . What kind of society are we showing with anything being […]