Domestic Violence Chic: Fashion Photography's Disturbing New Trend

In recent years, fashion photographers have delighted in pushing the envelope, creating images that are designed to make the viewer stop and take notice. Sometimes we pause because the image is stunningly breath-taking and sometimes we stop because the image is compelling and original. However, a particular brand of photo causes the reader to have a drastically different reaction: we stop because an image is so disturbing that it can only be compared to a car wreck- we want to look away but cannot. A recent fashion spread has shocked viewers by taking on a subject that most people consider to be beyond campy parody: domestic violence.

Celebrated fashion photographer Tyler Shields has posted a series of shocking photographs on his website featuring Gleeactress Heather Morris. In these art-directed shots, Morris is seen as a Barbie doll-esque blonde, clad in a polka-dot dress, her tiny waist accentuated to make her appear even more like the iconic doll. So, what makes these shots so disturbing? In each of the images, Morris sports a painful-looking black eye that is purplish-black in appearance. The bruise is artfully applied make-up, but is so expertly done that it appears to be real. In one shot, Morris grins with her wrists bound with an iron's cord, the cord clenched between her smiling jaw. Her eyebrows arch above her black eye. In another she lies atop an ironing board, glaring at the camera as she yanks her own ponytail. In each of the shots, Morris' bruise is clearly visible; the styling of the shoot makes it appear that the photographer's intention was to make the bruise look sexy in a bizarrely tongue-in-cheek manner.

So, what was the photographer's intention in these? On his blog, Tyler Shields notes:

"Even Barbie bruises. We have been talking about shooting for a long time and we finally made it happen! Some magic, irons, and bruises later it was complete."

Shields claims his shoot was "in no way promoting domestic violence." In an interview with E! News he said, "We wanted to do a bruised-up Barbie shoot and that's exactly what we did!"
The two statements seem conflicting, as a "bruised-up Barbie shoot" assumes that some form of violence has occurred for our heroine to obtain her bruises. A black eye tends to have one common origin: a fist. Several of the photos feature what appears to be a man on the fringes of the shot. (One of the later shots does depict our "bruised-up Barbie" getting the upper hand on the man, with his wrists bound, but the majority of the shots clearly show Morris as a victim.)

Shocked? Well, the black and blue model concept isn't even new! Designer Duncan Quinn promoted his menswear line with an image of a man clutching a leash attached to the neck of a barely clad underwear model who appears to be unconscious on the roof of a car. What does such an image even mean? What story is it attempting to tell? And how exactly does it sell men's suits???

I've certainly come to expect the avant garde and unique from fashion photography, but when has a line been crossed? Violence against women is not an attractive concept to sell clothing, nor is it humorous or campy as Shields attempts to show us. There is nothing cute or funny about the images of Heather Morris seeming to run away from an iron, her wrists bound. For women who deal with the everyday reality of domestic abuse, images such as these are not only painful and horrifying, but insulting. The smile on Morris' face minimizes, if not negates, the terror that an abused woman feels. There is nothing sexy about bruises and broken bones, even when clad in a hot dress and stiletto heels. Originality is to be commended in any art, but certain subjects should be off-limits to those with good taste. The images are akin to a high fashion photo shoot set in a concentration camp: it's just inappropriate, hurtful and in bad taste. A fashion photographer's job is to artfully sell clothes, not the glamour of violence.