Discuss Richard Kern photos

[spiralcity]

Richard Kern,
All photos posted where taken in one of the two apartments Richard Kern rented in N.Y City from 1979 to 1986.

Richard Kern’s photos can be rather disturbing. His work reflects the punk underground scene of the late 1970’s thru the mid 1980’s. The photos I posted are scanned from his 1997 book ‘New York Girls’.

I’m amazed at the results Richard Kern was able to achieve while using a bare-bones set-up.

Please take a look at his work and feel free to post your thoughts.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-.../greenlady.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-...181/blonde.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-...rlinmirror.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-...81/onall4s.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-...overedface.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-...uebackdrop.jpg

[Ray Heath]

g'day Spiral

what are your thoughts on this work?

apart from 'greenlady' i think they are fairly shallow, poorly captured and have little narrative value

[Pinholemaster]

Yawn

[spiralcity]

The work is scanned from a book. The images I have posted are of very poor quality. No fault of Kern.

I posted these images because most of his work may not be suited for this site. the photos above are tame enough.

[Ray Heath]

Originally Posted by spiralcity

The work is scanned from a book. The images I have posted are of very poor quality. No fault of Kern.

I posted these images because most of his work may not be suited for this site. the photos above are tame enough.

ok Spiral

a couple of issues occur to me;

why post 'very poor quality' work/scans whatever?

why post work that may not be suitable?

why not explain why you felt compelled to post this work?

i checked out this guys website, sleazey comes to mind, why does a middle aged man need to photograph quite young women in such a slip shod and perverse manner with little artistic intent?

please explain yourself

[noblebeast]

Didn't he star with Tim Allen in "Home Improvement"?
;-)

[cosm670]

There is also a web based show about him made for Vice Magazine called Shot By Kern. http://www.vbs.tv/

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

DIY punk ethos? Surely, you must jest. It's glamour-on-a-shoestring, not punk.

Had a look at his web site and it's mostly softporn, at the level of the French New Look magazine: "Tammy and Sammy were out for a bike ride. Then Tammy said, Oh, let's have a picnic here. And it was only a few minutes before Sammy had Tammy for lunch."

[spiralcity]

ok Spiral

a couple of issues occur to me;

why post 'very poor quality' work/scans whatever?

why post work that may not be suitable?

why not explain why you felt compelled to post this work?

i checked out this guys website, sleazey comes to mind, why does a middle aged man need to photograph quite young women in such a slip shod and perverse manner with little artistic intent?

please explain yourself

1. I posted what I had.
2. It dosent matter the quality of the scans. The photos are intended to get people talking.
3.No work was posted that wasnt suitable.
4. Why do I need to explain? This is the thread to discuss photographers?

I like what Richard Kern did. His work may not be suited for all. He never used professional models, and yes his images where shot on a shoestring budget.

We all see art differently.When I look at Kerns images I see the sleazy, gritty side of N.Y and YES in my eyes he does capture the PUNK feel of the late 70's and mid 80's.

Kern also produced some videos for MTV back in their early days.

I truly dont understand the statement below.

I checked out this guys website, sleazey comes to mind, why does a middle aged man need to photograph quite young women in such a slip shod and perverse manner with little artistic intent?

We could have a long discussion about art if you like.

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Originally Posted by spiralcity

We all see art differently.When I look at Kerns images I see the sleazy, gritty side of N.Y and YES in my eyes he does capture the PUNK feel of the late 70's and mid 80's.

Kern also produced some videos for MTV back in their early days.

Just think about the cognitive dissonance between these two statements...