All the ladies photographed in the "Woman in Heat" series have responded to my ad or have been 'encountered' in public spaces. The images are accompanied by powerful statements extracted from an extensive Q&A interview and a lengthy shooting. Please visit http://www.stern.de/fotografie/ OR http://www.dienacht-magazine.com/ for more information.
Abbreviated Statement:
...It is no secret that the socially dominant obsession with youth as a foremost token of beauty and glamour yields grim and often unseen consequences. Respectively, a female over forty is rarely portrayed in any role other than that of a mother, a wife or a ‘still sexy’ celebrity. Does this mean that a woman over forty ceases to be anything else but a ‘social servant’, or must she occupy the status of an idol to be recognized by the mainstream or even artâ€related media? And, moreover, where do such classifications place the single, childless and ‘fameless’ woman if not on the very margin of society?
While aging is not a ‘disease’ its implications, at least in part, render it its worthy double. Eastern philosophy approaches the fact of ageing with the advent and application of remedies that may not cure the ‘disease’ but which at least allow room for the preservation of the ‘patient’s’ dignity, whereas in our society aging is a disease that is swept under the rug in the plastic surgeons office or is tucked away in the psychiatrist’s drawer. It is a weak seam in the fabric of life that can be accepted only if ignored, tolerated only when patched over or temporarily reinforced with the poke of a needle. It is a stigma, a scarlet letter that every woman who is or isn’t a cancer survivor, must wear on her breast. And yet, the greatest burden of this disease lies invisibly on the heart. And how many women do we really know who can wear their heart on their sleeve?
The conviction that the more interesting abrasions are not of stone but of flesh is one of the guiding principles for the Woman in Heat series: a candid confrontation with the dismal and sublime phase of life where such abrasions first become apparent.
The title of the project draws on the paradox behind a notion that is as inherent to the natural world as it is degrading in the social context. The soâ€called ‘woman in heat’ is no longer a woman whose rising body temperature connotes the prosperity of life, but one whose new kind of internally generated heat signifies its definite and gradual decline. But as all destruction leads to creation, this woman enters a phase of discovery fueled by a drive for selfâ€revelation.
It is not in the scope of this project to challenge the gods of advertising, to march forth with the troops of feminism or show how ‘sexy’ a woman over forty can still be. Rather, it is to ask: how do mature women today see themselves and how do they want to be seen? If ‘sexy’ translates to ‘sexually desirable’, do women whose desire for sex decreases still want to look sexy? Do they confront this new phase peacefully or turbulently, and what could their body language reveal to the naked eye of the camera? ....