This week the New York Times published an article on Leonard Nimoy that led me to spend an entire afternoon looking up his photography and reviews of his work before I realized what was happening. Now I know you're thinking you recognize the name, but you've probably never heard the name in conjunction with the words artist or photography; and before I get too far you do know the name unless you've been living under a rock. Leonard Nimoy acted in the Original Star Trek Series (with Captain Kirk/ William Shatner) and starred as the original Vulcan named Spock.
Star Trek began in 1966 and stopped filming 3 seasons later, he returned to school and worked toward a degree in photography. He didn't graduate but holds master's degree in Education and an Honorary Doctorate. His photography came to the fore front of discussion in 2002 when he published the book Sekhina.
Raised in Boston by Russian Jews, Nimoy used traditional jewish names and symbols intertwined with the female form. The word Sekhina for example is yiddish for the female side of god. The photographs themselves were of very sensual women, wrapped and draped in phylacteries which are typically only worn by Jewish men. (On a side note the famous Vulcan hand signal is of Nimoy's own design, representing the Hebrew letter "shin," the first letter in the word for God.
On a more recent note, as mentioned in the Times, Nimoy is making waves with his photography again. His new project is entitled "the Full Body Project" and makes some thought provoking statements about body size and perception of that size. The times article quotes him as saying that the series is a direct result of women to be a size 2.
One of the photographs is located at the top of this post, and a scan of the Times article is placed here to the left. Notice the Times page places the article called "Girth and Nudity: A Pictorial Mission) between two department store ads, both featuring Twiggy like models.
His new photographs are showing the at the R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, Massachusetts through June while a larger show at the same gallery is scheduled with the release of the book of photographs from this series in November.
I found the photos in the series (you can see them here) engrossing for lack of a better word. The photos are explicit, showing large nude women in poses from famous paintings, and enjoying themselves. It's very refreshing to see that not only are these woman large, but they're visibly comfortable with their bodies. As a woman myself, it's also nice to see that the women aren't "plus sized models." They're larger than any other model I've ever seen, nude or otherwise, and they're disproportionate, some with larger hips, and others who are huge on top. There's significant variation in the women in the photographs, just like real women.
On a side note, he's apparently over the years published two books including one of poetry (I am Spock and You and I), and recorded several albums: The Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy, The Way I Feel, Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space, and Space Odyssey.
Star Trek began in 1966 and stopped filming 3 seasons later, he returned to school and worked toward a degree in photography. He didn't graduate but holds master's degree in Education and an Honorary Doctorate. His photography came to the fore front of discussion in 2002 when he published the book Sekhina.
Raised in Boston by Russian Jews, Nimoy used traditional jewish names and symbols intertwined with the female form. The word Sekhina for example is yiddish for the female side of god. The photographs themselves were of very sensual women, wrapped and draped in phylacteries which are typically only worn by Jewish men. (On a side note the famous Vulcan hand signal is of Nimoy's own design, representing the Hebrew letter "shin," the first letter in the word for God.
On a more recent note, as mentioned in the Times, Nimoy is making waves with his photography again. His new project is entitled "the Full Body Project" and makes some thought provoking statements about body size and perception of that size. The times article quotes him as saying that the series is a direct result of women to be a size 2.
One of the photographs is located at the top of this post, and a scan of the Times article is placed here to the left. Notice the Times page places the article called "Girth and Nudity: A Pictorial Mission) between two department store ads, both featuring Twiggy like models.
His new photographs are showing the at the R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, Massachusetts through June while a larger show at the same gallery is scheduled with the release of the book of photographs from this series in November.
I found the photos in the series (you can see them here) engrossing for lack of a better word. The photos are explicit, showing large nude women in poses from famous paintings, and enjoying themselves. It's very refreshing to see that not only are these woman large, but they're visibly comfortable with their bodies. As a woman myself, it's also nice to see that the women aren't "plus sized models." They're larger than any other model I've ever seen, nude or otherwise, and they're disproportionate, some with larger hips, and others who are huge on top. There's significant variation in the women in the photographs, just like real women.
On a side note, he's apparently over the years published two books including one of poetry (I am Spock and You and I), and recorded several albums: The Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy, The Way I Feel, Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space, and Space Odyssey.
The Real Mr Spock?
Originally uploaded by rock against ass.
Originally uploaded by rock against ass.
Fascinating! I had no idea he was a photographer. I'm digging the new project.
Thanks for posting about this!