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Vile Bodies

Vile Bodies

1998 5.0 Documentary
GB • English

Director: James Kent

Writers: Edmund Coulthard

Documentary miniseries about contemporary artists who create challenging views of the human body. One of a 3-part series exploring how contemporary photography is challenging some of our deepest-held taboos about the human body. "American photographer Joel-Peter Witkin discusses his dark visions of human bodies.

Cast

Episodes

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Naked

E1

Joel-Peter Witkin reveals the motivations for his dark visions of deformed bodies; Jenny Saville discusses how her work challenges stereotypes of the female body; John Coplans presents his monumental black-and-white self-portraits, which celebrate the unexpected beauty and grandeur of an old man's naked body.

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Kids

E2

An exploration of the work of photographers such as Sally Mann, Collier Shorr, Jouko Lehtola and Wendy Ewald who are pushing back the boundaries surrounding the traditional family snapshot pictures of childhood with bold and sometimes dark portraits.

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The Dead

E3

An examination of how photographers confront taking pictures of the dead. Among those featured are forensic photographer DC John Yearnshire, New York-based artist Andreas Serrano, young photographer Sue Fox and British artist Nick Waplington.