This image brought me back to our class lecture on assumptions about high and low art. This image of Lindsay was published by Playboy in a kind of last attempt to save the printed form of the magazine. Magazine sales have suffered since controlling the leak of images to the web was nearly impossible. Sales of the issue have been extremely high, despite the leak of images online.
Needless to say, this was a big issue for Playboy, and what better way to 'go big' than to use illusion to reference Marilyn Monroe's iconic photo shoot. I thought this was an especially interesting image to dissect because the image is arguably very tasteful for Playboys usual style. Lindsay remains unexposed. I thought it was worth dissecting why this image, is so very different from the image to which it is self-referential. For one, the image is associated with Playboy, thereby marking it at low culture to most. The image is undoubtedly artful, but not in the same way the professional photographs of Marilyn were regarded.
Most notably, however, are the values attached to Lindsay. Being linked to tabloid culture, she re-interprets Marilyn's iconic image making it something new. Still, the illusion to the Marilyn is undeniable, which makes the message that the image delivers all the more powerful. Lindsay breathes a fresh sex appeal into it the Playboy brand, while also marking the magazine as classic, even timeless. I thought the image was a very artful use of celebrity culture to make Playboy into so much more than a men's magazine. For me, the reinterpretation was brilliant.
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