At the Edge of the World

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Sturges describes his work as "identity driven" because his portraits represent collaborations that stretch over entire lifetimes. They're simply a celebration of beauty,' he said of his photos in an interview with the Associated Press in 1997 when the Christian group Focus on the Family was campaigning to have his books banned in Pennsylvania.

Jock Sturges: Radiant Identities by Jock Sturges | Goodreads Jock Sturges: Radiant Identities by Jock Sturges | Goodreads

C. subsequently cancelled an exhibition of sexually explicit photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe, which had also received NEA funds. The quality of work is so great that the use of black-and-white is enough to show that the need for color is moot. Sturges’ legacy serves as a testament to the power of art to provoke thought, challenge norms, and inspire change.

Last year, the exhibition had to be closed two weeks after the opening day, despite the objections of photography connoisseurs who did not manage to get acquainted with the project.

At the Edge of the World : Sturges, Jock, Laboile, Alain

Sturges’ work serves as a provocative reminder of the complexities of artistic freedom and the fine line between art and controversy.Critics argue that his photographs may exploit the vulnerability of his subjects, especially children and adolescents. The confident ease with which all of his subjects present themselves to his camera evidences a rare level of trust and friendship. People who make pinup photographs don't care who the woman is, what tragedies or triumphs that person's life might encompass. These accusations were met with fierce defense from Sturges and his supporters, who argued that his work was art rather than exploitation.

At the Edge of the World : Laboile, Alain, Sturges, Jock

Many of the subsequent images that eventually formed the “Immediate Family” series featured her children on the family farm—in the nude, injured, or in other vulnerable positions. Seine Bilder sind in der Sammlung des Museum of Modern Art und dem Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York ausgestellt, ebenso in der Biblioth que Nationale in Paris. If Mann could dismiss the articles and the letters, more frightening was the stalker her work attracted. The older, male artist had portrayed a pre-teen girl sitting with a raised knee, revealing her underwear underneath a red skirt.Sturges pled guilty in 2021 at Franklin County (MA) Superior Court to an unnatural and lascivious act with a child under 16. The reason for the closure was the appeal of MP Elena Mizulina, who saw signs of child pornography in Sturges’s works and started the mechanism of bullying. Later on, he pointed his lens towards his growing family which became his major subject: a life on the edge of the world, where intemporality and the universality of childhood meet.