Sensitive Content

Black and White Nude Photography

by Jeff Palmer and Stan Trampe

Curated by Philip Hitchcock

at phd Gallery

2300 Cherokee St, St Louis Missouri

June 28 - August 17, 2008

The Bible Belt is unbuckled in this examination of classic nude photography within the context of the midwestern United States. Images of the human body write a diary about the cultures that create them. Photographic images are perhaps the most proliferated of images and they often reflect the social and political climate under which they were made. A challenging image which forces viewers to confront or experience uncomfortable or taboo feelings may provoke contention or even be a catalyst for change. Nude photographs can be political because they represent not only individual bodies, but also greater truths about contemporary society.

Photographers Jeff Palmer and Stan Trampe challenge the sensibilities of local audiences in their exhibit of exquisitely photographed, idealized nudes entitled,Sensitive Content.The exhibit poses this question: Are certain images universally evocative and can their impact on the viewer be influenced by the geographic context in which they are viewed?

The gallery will also have a limited supply of signed books -- Touch by Jeff Palmer, (Bruno Gmunder) and Black and White Nude Photography by Stan Trampe, (Amherst Media.)