Thomas Dozol’s Got Gwyneth Paltrow Sans Makeup and Wolfgang Tillman’s Balls

Gwyneth Paltrow,  by photographer Thomas Dozol

The  loo  may be the last bastion of privacy as we know it. Yes, the bloody bathroom.  Since folks have taken to chronicling every motion of life– tweeting details of the day, posting intimacies on internet social networks, and home grown porno — the porcelain john  remains the one place where we can let it all go. No one walks into a bathroom self conscious, even if butt naked. We could all (pardon the pun) give a shit!

That’s what makes photographer Thomas Dozol’s photography show, “In the Mirror” so much fun.We get to play “peeping Tom” to the last  private chamber on earth. To Dozol’s credit, despite lucid superb lighting, his subjects — including personal pals like actress Gwyneth Paltrow, above, and Michael Stipe — don’t even seem to notice his lens! Perhaps, because many of the muses perform professionally they can tune the photographer out.  It’s also a testimony to the comfort Dozol shares with these people, which results in images, while  minimal and often stark naked,  generate a warm familiarity.

“Look! It’s Wolfgang Tillmans.” artist/performer Casey Spooner tells me and points to the image below. “And his enormous balls!”  Tillmans — known to capture rough cuts of   people on streets and  in clubs, as well as unique angles of still lifes and wilderness shots —  counts as one of my fave photographers. I’ve even got a print of his “Holding Cock”  in my apartment, with a girl holding her date by the cockles. But, I’ve never quite seen Tillmans in this light.

Guess you learn something every day.

Thomas Dozol,  “Entre Temps,”  (formerly called “I’ll Be Your Mirror”) until February 14, 2009, Envoy Gallery, 151 Chrystie Street, Envoyenterprises

Wolfgang TIllmans?/by Thomas Dozol

Both lovely, Casey Spooner and Thomas Dozol

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