OIL-SPILL PHOTO SPREAD FEATURED IN VOGUE ITALIA

THE MODEL IS IN BLACK, PRONE AND DIRTY ON JAGGED ROCKS, NETTING DRAPED AROUND HER LEGS LIKE A DEAD SEA CREATURE. THERE SHE IS AGAIN, LYING ON HER BACK IN A STUNNING FEATHERED GOWN, AND IN CLOSE UP, HER HAIR AND FACE SLEEK WITH OIL. A STIRRING AND DARING PHOTO SPREAD IN THE NEW AUGUST ISSUE OF VOGUE ITALIA WAS INSPIRED BY THE RECENT GULF OIL SPILL, LEAVING READERS WONDERING IF THE MAGAZINE CROSSED FROM EVOCATIVE TO INSENSITIVE. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FRANC SOZZANI UNDERSTANDS THE DEBATE STRETCHING FROM BLOGOSPHERE TO BEACHES AND SAID THE MOTIVATION IS STRAIGHTFORWARD. 'THE MESSAGE IS TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT NATURE', SHE SAID IN A RECENT INTERVIEW. THE SPREAD, FEATURING KIRISTEN MCMENAMY, IS TITLED 'WATER & OIL' AND WAS SHOT IN LOS ANGELES BY LEADING FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER, STEVEN MEISEL. SOZZANI SAID THE SHOOT REFLECTS THE MAGAZINE'S EFFORT TO 'FIND AN IDEA THAT COMES FROM REAL LIFE. . . . THERE IS NOTHING MORE POLITICAL. THERE IS NOTHING SOCIAL. IT'S ONLY VISUALLY. WE GAVE A MASSAGE BUT IN A VISUAL WAY.' SOME BLOGGERS WEREN'T PLEASED. DODI STEWART, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF JEZEBEL, CALLED THE SPREAD INAPPROPRIATE. 'I DIDN'T FEEL IT MADE A STATEMENT', SHE SAID IN AN INTERVIEW. 'I FELT THAT THEY USED THE OIL SPILL AS A BACKDROP. THERE WAS ONE PICTURE THAT HAD FEATHERS. . . WHAT MAKES A STRONGER STATEMENT ABOUT OIL-SLICKED BIRDS IS AN OIL-SLICKED BIRD.' MIRANDA LASH, CURATOR OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART AT THE NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART, SAID ARTISTS SHOULD BE FREE TO TAKE ON ANY SUBJECT. 'WHEN I LOOK AT IT, I FEEL PAIN. IT EVOKES PAIN AND A FEELING OF LOSS AND SADNESS BECAUSE THIS IS GOING TO HURT MY REGION FOR A VERY LONG TIME.' BETH BATTON, CURATOR OF THE PERMANENT COLLECTION AT THE MISSISSIPPI MUSEUM OF ART IN JACKSON, MISS, SAID IN AN EMAIL THAT THE SPREAD HUMANIZES THE CONDITION OF THE GULF COAST ANIMALS AND ENVIRONMENT. 'LOOKING AT STEVEN MEISEL'S PHOTOGRAPHS, YOU KNOW SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY WRONG BECAUSE, AS SENSUAL AS THE IMAGES ARE, THE HUMAN MIND UNDERSTANDS THE TOXICITY OF THE OIL SPILL THAT HAS COATED MODEL KRISTEN MCMENAMY'S SKIN, HAIR AND FEATHERY GLOVES', SHE SAID.