Poetics of Body

Not quite sure what to say about this. I actually haven't had much to say about a lot of things recently, which is pretty strange for me and this blog because I do love a good rambling. Readers who've been with me for a while can attest to that. Anyway, I guess I should first let the work speak for itself. As for what it says, that's open for interpretation.

Poetics of Body
Vogue Korea September 2010
Ph: Rafael Stahelin
Styling: Ye Young Kim

I do have to say one thing. With the title "Poetics of Body" you'd think they would put more effort into making Freja look poetical or lyrical instead of making her look like she was attacked by piles of black clothing. But maybe that's an issue of language, translation and semantics. Either way, I really would have liked to have seen more elegance and subtlety. Don't drum up my expectations with words, only to counter them with your images. I can't say I'm a big fan of this. It's not her best work, but it's not her worst work either. To my mind, it's really just....work.

Now that people have finally moved away from pigeonholing her with the androgyny shtick, we've seemed to move into a newly dominant "too cool for school" characterization that also does no justice to Freja's full capabilities and talents as a model. But c'est la vie in the modeling world. Part of being successful is occupying a role and niche in the market. You do your character and you do it well. But to a fan like me, this gets old pretty quickly. Seeing the same thing over and over again doesn't inspire me. It doesn't enrage me. It just makes me feel apathy, which is a far more dangerous thing to feel when it comes to your favorite model. I mean, I can't be the only one dying to see Freja in full haute couture acting super delicate and feminine in a field of daisies, right? Or am I? Maybe I am.....

As with most things in life, we go through stages of ups and down, likes and dislikes. Regardless of what you might think of me since I do run this blog dedicated to her, I don't always like everything that Freja does and I don't worship the ground she walks on. I write about her because I find her and her work interesting and intellectually intriguing; although I will admit that her second "career rejuvenation" has made those things seem less so to me. How ironic that the more work I have to look at, the less I find myself inspired to say something about it. A lot of the intrigue and mystery that I was so drawn to two years ago when I started this blog is being eaten up and replaced by her ubiquity and extreme success. I'm happy for her of course (!!) but it's a bittersweet feeling that I'm not quite sure how to express without alienating some of you, so sorry about that.

I guess I'm going through one of those dips instead of hitting one of those high crests. Saw previews of both the upcoming Vogue Paris and V Magazine edits and I'm not too impressed with either. But maybe HQ images will change that. So until then, I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Maybe some other long term fans who feel differently? Or the same? Is it inevitable to fall into some sort of apathy after literally years of following someone's work? Hopefully the SS11 shows around the corner are just the thing to get me excited again.

Image Credits: cheny1117 @ sfileydy.com