Absolutely Stunning

Upon entering the room, I noticed the variety of images, in all colors and all sizes. One particularly stood out from far away because it was by far, the largest in the room. I walked around the exhibition in a counter-clockwise direction, approaching the largest image. But after I examined the image to the right of the largest one, I walked to the image on its left, completely skipping the large image, unintentionally. Unknowingly. And that was so strange. I noticed the photograph when I first entered the exhibition, but when I stood next to it, I completely forgot that it was there. A huge image like that!

As I walked around the exhibition a second time, to pick up details I had missed and to choose a piece to describe on this site, I went back to the largest image and stared at it. How could I have missed such a striking photo?

Karl Lagerfeld’s photo of Snejana Onopka (November 2007) is overwhelming and hypnotizing. The image is about 4-5 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide. And in the image are numerous tarnished steps that lead to a vast blank space at the top. The setting is what I would say as plain and ugly. Yet there’s something so mesmerizing and dynamic about the way it is captured. Perhaps it’s the size of the image, blown up to ginormous proportions. Or maybe its the model, standing at towards the bottom center, on the steps, peering right past me. I stand at eye level with her. Her pose so adamant, one arm bent on her hips and the other curved upward with her fingers delicately holding her hat. And her hat, oh the monstrosity. If anyone were to wear that humongous hat in person, I’d question their sanity. But in this image, it just seems natural. The curves of her body and dress immediately stand out compared to the repetitious straight lines of the steps behind her. The intensity of the black of the skirt of her dress. It captivates me, pops right out of the photograph as the other colors of the image are muted whites and dull grays. The subject is quite boring but the image is absolutely stunning.