Photo Talks with Petra Kleis and Rune Gade
Denmark's very acclaimed photographer, Petra Kleis visits The Black Diamond. In conversation with associate professor and author Rune Gade, she will discuss nudity, bodies and image pornography today.
“I think skin is incredibly beautiful, and when you take people’s clothes off, you strip away some of their façade and armour. In a way, you get the pure human being. You can remove status symbols by removing clothes.”
This quote is by Danish star photographer Petra Kleis. At a time when we are constantly discussing the gaze through which we view one another, and how people are represented in the media, Kleis has developed her own unique way of capturing people, and especially their bodies, through photography. Her images contain great tenderness and vulnerability - both literally and figuratively.
All kinds of bodies
It's hard to describe exactly what makes a photograph "Kleisian", as her work varies greatly in both expression and subject matter. They are photographs of people, but people with all kinds of bodies, in every size and every colour. This is an important point for Kleis, who insists on being highly inclusive in relation to body ideals and aims to represent the world's diversity in her work.
"The thin girls should not disappear completely, they are also part of the diverse picture, but we also just need to have thick, brown and yellow bodies."
Those fortunate enough to be photographed differ not only in shape and colour, but also in background. In Kleis’ extensive portfolio you will find everyone from musicians and actors to politicians and former prime ministers.
Sex for sale
Kleis will be in conversation with Rune Gade, associate professor at the Department of Art and Cultural Studies and author of the book Kønnet i Kunsten i Kroppen. The conversation's starting point will be the room 'Sex for Sale' in Royal Danish Library's historical photography exhibition The Camera and Us.
'Sex for Sale' explores the development of image pornography from something criminal, through the period when Denmark became the first country to legalise pornography, and onwards to today’s international capitalist mega-industry. It is an enormous genre. On the internet’s most popular pornography website, Pornhub, videos were viewed more than 109 billion times in 2019 alone – more than 14 videos for every person on the planet. And yet it remains a genre we rarely discuss openly or examine critically.
This conversation will take a critical look at image pornography today – how we view bodies, how the industry is changing, and the role gender plays within it.
Participants
Petra Kleis
Petra Kleis is one of Denmark's most recognised and sought-after photographers. With distinctness and tenderness, she her portraits capture everything from actors and politicians to musicians and artists. Several of her photographs are among the most iconic of the past ten years.
Rune Street
Rune Gade is an MA & PhD in art history and associate professor at the Department of Art and Cultural Studies and author of the book Kønnet i Kunsten i Kroppen.
