Rollin' Barthes

This photo is of Lewis Payne, a conspirator in the Lincoln plot. He is handcuffed and awaiting execution. A somber occassion indeed, so why does his disaffected patina make me think of high fashion photography? It's by Alexander Gardner (1865), who also did Civil War photographs, some of which have a similar macabre eroticism. Roland Barthes recognizes a homoerotic element in this image; is it his resignation to death, his captivity, or the eye-contact with the viewer, an expression of neither regret nor fear...?

Let's compare and contrast. Below is a recent photo by David LaChapelle of Paris Hilton called "Class Struggle."



Aside from the obvious differences between the two images -- the colorlessness and hyper-pigmentation, the sincere and ironic intentions of the photographer -- both show celebrity in chains. Lewis Payne's infamy is of a different order of magnitude that Paris Hilton's , but both are characters reviled enough to be photographed. What interests me is the different gazes. Payne, as noted above, is unsettling precisely because he is aware of his fate but indifferent, whereas Paris, who is not renown for her insight, does not seem aware of the satirical and hyperbolic character of LaChapelle's project. (Just see how other celebrities are more visibly "directed" by LaChapelle). The image signals the entrapment of celebrity and iconicity, but just as Payne shows no regret for his murderous collaboration, Paris is unapolagetically vapid. She is her own caricature, and like the criminal behind bars, is untouchable, however condemned.

For a fantastic insight on Paris Hilton and the American psyche, check out Kay S. Hymowitz's "The Trash Princess."