Vile Bodies

Storyline

One of a 3-part series exploring how contemporary photography is challenging some of our deepest-held taboos about the human body. "American photographer Joel-Peter Witkin discusses his dark visions of human bodies - frequently tortured and deformed - set amid exquisite Renaissance-influenced backgrounds. Jenny Saville, a young British artist [known for] larger-than-life portraits of the female body - prepares a new work which involves making a prosthetic extension to her body. Eminent New York-based artist John Coplans produces monumental black-and-white self-portraits which celebrate the unexpected grandeur of an old man's naked body".