Arts: Finding Models Who Aren?t Defined by Gender?on Facebook

Now playing: Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V at www.slatev.com.
Behold Finding Models Who Aren't Defined by Gender—on Facebook By David Rosenberg Posted Tuesday, Nov 27, 2012, at 02:30 PM ET Behold is Slate's brand-new photo blog. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @beholdphotos and Tumblr. Learn what this space is all about here. Bettina Rheims' work is often seen as provocative. Since the 1980s, many of her photographs and books have focused on gender and sexuality, capturing models ranging from the androgynous to transgendered. About a year and a half ago, the publication Candy approached Rheims looking to run some of her images from her book, Modern Lovers. Instead of looking back at her work, Rheims wanted to instead take a look at how people who define themselves outside of the gender binary are living today. "I wanted to see what is happening now," Rheims explained. "Do people have the same concerns? Do they get the same reactions from their families and people on the street?" To update her work and find new models, Rheims decided to become familiar with a medium to which she was completely naïve: Facebook. "I thought it was for silly people for holiday pictures, for drinking," she said. But she quickly learned it can source artistic leads as well. Once Rheims put up a post to find people willing to be photographed, the response was overwhelming. "I met these people who were sort of lonely, some of them had never left their towns, but they had millions of friends on the Internet," Rheims said. It was certainly a lot different from how Rheims used to conduct castings. "It took days ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate The Internet Wears Shorts Why Are Hotel Rooms So Expensive? First Lady Grace Coolidge Loved Her Raccoon, Rebecca	Advertisement
Manage your newsletters subscription: Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend | Advertising Information
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to slatenewsletter@nl.slate.com. Copyright 2011 The Slate Group | Privacy Policy The Slate Group | c/o E-mail Customer Care | 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 410 | Washington, D.C. 20036