I’m totally taken with this photograph by Bellocq which immediately reminded me of Il Bagno by Fernando Botero. Does anyone have an idea on the copyright status of the Bellocq pictures? As is evident from this page at Wikipedia, Bellocq’s photographs are in the public domain in the United States, but the information also states that “this image might not be in the public domain outside the United States.” The page where the first photograph I point to states that the copyright belongs to the estate of E. J. Bellocq/Lee Friedlander. Who has the complete story?
P. S. to circumvent copyright issues, I give you the Bellocq Google gallery.
P. S. #2 To round this post of, a post by Gatochy on the similarity of the said Bellocq photograph with an illustration by Bonfils. Gatochy is Mariana who runs a series of interesting blogs related to visual culture. Here is her Google gallery.
P. S. #3 Check Femme Femme Femme and the work of Delphin-Enjolras
I am amazed at the lack of artifice in this picture of a woman from the back – the unself-consciousness of the model, the fact of her being naked and wearing her shoes, none of the modern photographic cliches involved in depicting a naked woman. At the same time, this is a sympathetic and even respectful photo, not one which objectifies the woman. really remarkable.
On the other hand, I loathe the pneumatic individuals who populate Botero’s works! Yuk!