Leigh Ledare photographed his mother having séx.
Not
for his own enjoyment, but as part of a new photography exhibition at
The Photographers’ Gallery in London. According to the Guardian, the
photos taken by the New York-based Ledare will be included in a group
show entitled “Home Truths: Photography, Motherhood and Identity.”
The
photographs feature Ledare’s mother, Tina, having séx with various
younger men and posing in séxually explicit positions. Even the titles
of some of the photographs aren’t for the faint of heart: “Mom Spread
with Lamp” and “Mom F****g in Mirror,” among others.
As the Guardian points out, the photographs were previously included in Ledare’s 2008 book, “Pretend You’re Actually Alive.”
Ledare,
36, decided to start photographing his mother when he arrived at her
house for Christmas one year, the Guardian reported. "I arrived home not
having seen her for a year and a half," Ledare said. "She knew I was
coming and opened the door nakéd."
As
Ledare walked past the bédroom, he noticed "a young man, almost exactly
my age, was sprawled out nakéd. He rolled over to see me, saying hello,
before rolling back over and returning to sleép." According to Ledare,
this was "her way of announcing to me what she was up to, at this period
in her life -- almost as though to say, 'Take it or leave it.' I had a
camera and began making photos of her then. She was the catalyst."
"The work spanned eight years," Ledare told the Guardian. "I
moved between different feelings -- uncomfortable, absurd, funny. She
would present herself to me, and through me, in a very confrontational
way."
When asked if he ever got aroused during the project, Ledare offered up a very cagey response. "I
don't know what to say …," he said. "There are many ways to be excited.
Towards a séxual object, towards direct honesty and openess. I think
already in the background there were some foggy boundary issues. What
people talk about as being Oedipal -- there's a flirtation with that,
but the boundaries were never actually crossed."
According
to the Guardian, Ledare’s mother, Tina, is a former ballerina who
danced at the New York City Ballet. She also dabbled in modeling before
becoming a stripper when her career didn’t pan out.
"There's a lot of emphasis on me being her son, but the work looks at archetypal relationships; also fantasy life and social conventions everybody who looks at it brings their own understanding of their own relationships,”Ledare said. “We end up displacing what is culturally taboo. The work is trying to look at those blind spots."
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