There's not much you can convey to someone once they've stuck a bit of gaffa tape over your mouth. I wonder if this will catch on as a technique for photographers working with unruly models. The up side of this for me was that I didn't have to smile! or even worry that much about my expression, although looking at it now I think that I could have expressed a little of something! 
If you've been living under a rock and don't know what the NOH8 campaign is about then you can visit them here. I've lifted this bit of info from their website bcos I'm sitting here with a hot water bottle trying to ease some stomach cramping before heading off to teach Body Balance in a minute (wah wah), so yeah, too lazy to summarise. "On November 4, 2008 Proposition 8 passed in California, amending the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The defeat provoked a groundswell of initiative within the GLBT community at a grassroots level, with many new political and protest organizations being formed in response.
The NOH8 Campaign is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska (http://www.bouska.net) and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the passage of Proposition 8. Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths, symbolizing their voices being silenced by Prop 8 and similar legislation around the world, with "NOH8" painted on one cheek in protest."
Funds raised by the NOH8 Campaign are used to promote and raise awareness for Marriage Equality and anti-discrimination on a global level through an educational and interactive media campaign.
Make LOVE people!
I think you look gorgeous Maureen (as always) and the expression on your face is perfect for the photo. Very cool.
ReplyDeletexx
Cool photos! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the 'tape over the mouth' metaphor works anymore. The game has changed quite a bit. Maybe progressive people were censored for their pro-gay views in decades past, but now things have shifted. Now we're telling people, "You have bigoted attitudes against gay people? Fuck your noise. Take it back to the stone age where it belongs." They're the ones who need to worry about us.
So what could we use as a symbol, instead of tape? I'd recommend a toilet plunger. "This is where you can stick your homophobia. And if you spew it around me, I'll use this to help you cram it."
Thanks guys :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you might be a fan of the FCKH8 initiative https://www.facebook.com/pages/FCKH8com/145318588840178
Their weapon of choice seems to be 80s fluoro!
I wish I had read over the website in more detail before the shoot. I would have brought rope and tied myself up to go with the duct tape. Maybe even some fake blood... I'd like do a really dark and disturbing 'do it yourself' shoot.
I particularly like your statement "Fuck your noise". I'm sure I'll use it soon ;)
I thought the tape on mouths thing started as a anti-abortion deal? At least I've seen pre-2008 pictures of anti-abortion protesters with their mouths taped. IIRC its to show they're praying not shouting. I guess once somebody's taped his or her mouth shut it's hard to be sure what he or she is saying.
ReplyDeleteOh yes here it is. A GIS of bound4life will get you more info than anybody needs.
Isn't it just a silent protest like (but also nothing like) when asylum seekers sew their mouths shut. I like the symbolism, of the tape that is, not the sewing... how awful their positions must be to feel the need to do that!
ReplyDeleteDid you ever see the Big Brother interview with this kids that had just come out of the house and he had put tape over his mouth as well as making a sign out of cloth (I think it was about asylum seekers too) and the host couldn't get him to answer any of her questions! great for live TV (Australian BB, so you may not have seen it)
I didn't see that. Oh the perils of live TV.
ReplyDeleteI did mean to add last time that you look terrific in these pictures.
Thanks Retief :)
ReplyDeleteI was just checking the pics out again and I think I can see the beginnings of a 6-pack! of course I am all stretched out with my arms lifted so, a bit of cheating there ;) gives me encouragement though...