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Ossie Clark Vietnam 1969

Photograph
1969 (photographed), 2006 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This image was taken for an Ossie Clark poster of a Celia Birtwell print.
This is one image from a series of five. The idea of this series was to show an American soldier in the Vietnam war who had been rescued by a peasant girl and then took advantage of her. This shot shows the moment where he is apparently enjoying himself: it looks like an attempted rape and the soldier holds a gun in his right hand. However, the photographer suggests that it is an ambiguous image as it looks like she may be enjoying herself too. Jim Lee's motivation behind this image was to comment on the American involvement in the Vietnam war and those soliders who were 'having fun smoking pot and not taking the war seriously.'


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleOssie Clark Vietnam 1969 (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
C-type colour photograph on resin-coated paper
Brief description
'Ossie Clark Vietnam 1969', photographed by Jim Lee in 1969, printed by Martin Clark at the RCA, London, 2006.
Physical description
Colour fashion photograph showing a model wearing an Ossie Clark dress and lying in the arms of a Vietnam soldier. The camera used was a Nikon F with a 50mm lens which helped to convey a sense of naturalness.
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 102cm
  • Width: 76cm
  • Image height: 94cm
  • Width: 76cm
Marks and inscriptions
'JIM' (Artist signature inverted at the top right in blue ink.)
Credit line
Given by Jim Lee
Object history
This image was taken for an Ossie Clark poster of a Celia Birtwell print.
This is one image from a series of five. The idea of this series was to show an American soldier in the Vietnam war who had been rescued by a peasant girl and then him took advantage of her. This shot shows the moment where he is apparently enjoying himself, it looks like an attempted rape and the soldier holds a gun in his right hand, however it is an ambiguous image as it looks like she may be enjoying herself too. Jim Lee's motivation behind this image was to comment on the American involvement in the Vietnam war and those soldiers who were 'having fun smoking pot and not taking the war seriously.'

Historical significance: Jim Lee's motivation behind this image was the Vietnam war where he comments on the negative attitude some of the 'Yanks' had towards the Vietnamese people.
Historical context
Jim Lee established himself as a leading international photographer based in London, Paris, Milan and New York, shooting for such clients as Valentino, Alexander McQueen, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent. His great breakthrough was meeting the diva of fashion editors, Anna Wintour, at that time the assistant fashion editor at Harpers and Queen, who he regularly collaborated with to produce some of his best work, which continued years later after they both moved to New York.
Central to his work is the concept of telling stories which he creates using casts of three or three hundred and extraordinary locations and props. He has recently re-emerged as an active photographer working on numerous magazine editorials with top fashion stylists.

Jim Lee recently moved seamlessly into directing TV commercials, his first film was for Levi’s followed by several fashion and beauty commercials. In 2003/4 he had six photographs showing in the Ossie Clark retrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Production
Printed from the original negatives by a student of the Royal College of Art, London.
Subjects depicted
Associations
Summary
This image was taken for an Ossie Clark poster of a Celia Birtwell print.
This is one image from a series of five. The idea of this series was to show an American soldier in the Vietnam war who had been rescued by a peasant girl and then took advantage of her. This shot shows the moment where he is apparently enjoying himself: it looks like an attempted rape and the soldier holds a gun in his right hand. However, the photographer suggests that it is an ambiguous image as it looks like she may be enjoying herself too. Jim Lee's motivation behind this image was to comment on the American involvement in the Vietnam war and those soliders who were 'having fun smoking pot and not taking the war seriously.'
Collection
Accession number
E.15-2006

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Record createdApril 21, 2006
Record URL
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