Erotic and emancipated: the women of Bettina Rheims
Sertan SandersonMarch 8, 2016
Bettina Rheims is renowned for her provocative style, showing powerful women claiming eroticism as a tool to convey feminism. But her portraits also address vulnerability and decay. A new book explores her method.
Image: Imago/S. Gudath
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Erotic and emancipated: the women of Bettina Rheims
She has photographed everyone, from prostitutes in Paris to superstars and catwalk models. Bettina Rheims' portraits are among the most iconic of our times, and now an illustrated book by Taschen is honoring her career.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gerten
Pictures of women, for women
Bettina Rheims was born into a creative and powerful family. Her father was a renowned French writer and arts historian, while her German mother was related to the Rothschild clan. In her 20s, she began her career by taking pictures of Paris prostitutes, and she has continued to empower women through photography to this day. "I take pictures of women, for women," Rheims said about her method.
Image: Imago/S. Gudath
Flirting with Madonna
In 1994 Rheims did a shoot with Madonna, and the singer ended up using a shot for the cover of her album, "Bedtime Stories." The record flopped, but Madonna's sensual poses became some of the most recognized images of Rheims' career. "I still find myself having to justify being a woman taking pictures of naked women. It never occurred to me that there was something bizarre about it," said Rheims.
Image: Bettina Rheims
Would you like some ketchup with your model?
Rheims' portrait of Monica Belluci looks like an advertisement, with the Italian actress exerting a pull on the spectator with her gaze. Rheims has explained that it's not all about nudity in her work, but rather about feeling naked: "I always like it when you can tell the life of a person by their face and their eyes. For me it’s not about the nudity, it’s about what’s underneath the skin."
Image: Bettina Rheims
An encounter with Milla Jovovich
Rheims' style highlights both the power and the fragility of beauty. Her lighting brings out imperfections, while also showing her subjects in a "larger-than-life" manner. Rheims says she pays great attention to skin. "One of the first questions I ask myself is 'What kind of skin am I going to represent? Is it going to be warm, sun-lit, bluish? Is it going to keep all its flaws?'"
Image: Bettina Rheims
Exposing what's underneath
Rheims has worked with countless famous models, actors and even politicians throughout her career. She's able to get through to the subjects of her portraits because she herself was a model at the start of her career in the 1970s. Many of her images show women in some kind of transitioning motion, like her 2002 portrait of British actress Kristin Scott Thomas.
Image: Bettina Rheims
Finding beauty in unlikely places
When Dutch director Paul Verhoeven released his erotic drama "Showgirls" in 1995, it was derided by audiences and critics alike as one of the worst movies of all time. But with her photograph of protagonists Elizabeth Berkley and Gina Gershon kissing, Rheims stepped in and saved the day, turning the movie's seedy narrative on its head. It became one of her most famous images.
Image: Bettina Rheims
Capturing the perfect moment
Bettina Rheims has forged many friendships with powerful women in the public eye, resulting in intimate portraits, touching moments and complex depictions of femininity. "Photography has this amazing thing called 'the moment.' A fraction of a second later is too late, and a fraction of a second sooner is too early," Rheims has said of her art.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gerten
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She has been hailed as the female Helmut Newton, who served as her mentor for years. But Bettina Rheims's photographs deal with more than just beautiful bodies. In her own words, they explore what's "underneath the skin."
Rheims depicts well-known personalities like Madonna, Kate Moss and Charlotte Rampling, as well as unknown models from the street, looking for empowerment through beauty, eroticism, but also by admitting flaws, imperfections and vulnerability. The vast majority of her subjects are women.
Images of women for women
While male photographers have repeatedly been accused of misogyny for their downright sexy depictions of women in the past, Rheims has claimed nudity and skin as a way to spread emancipation. Rheims famously said that she takes pictures "of women for women" and has even used female models to illustrate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
"I still find myself having to justify being a woman taking pictures of naked women. It never occurred to me that there was something bizarre about it," Bettina Rheims said about her work.
The 63-year-old artist is regarded as a highly subversive force in photography who through the camera lens likes to explore the boundaries of gender roles and their corresponding definitions. Her own background as a model in New York in the 1970s has played a big part in her professional development, allowing Bettina Rheims to relate to the subjects in her photographs more intimately and directly.
Her exhibitions have toured the world, showing alongside great names in photography like Man Ray. The TASCHEN publishing house recently honored her career with an illustrated review of her iconic work. Originally released as limited edition, the 598-page strong XL-sized tome is now also available in an unlimited edition.
French art historian and author Catherine Millet has called the book "a celebration of excess, color, exhibitionism and voyeurism."
