Wegman, William; Kismaric, Carole & Heiferman, Marvin
Fay’s Fairy Tales.
New York, NY
Hyperion Books
1993
first edition
s. p.
hb. in dustjacket
color photographs
Buch, Kinderbuch
1-56282-416-3; 1-56282-417-1
Text engl. - Das “Rotkäppchen”-Märchen photographisch inszeniert, mit Wegman’s Weimaranern “Fay Ray”, “Battina” und “Chundo” in den Hauptrollen. - Arriving on the tails of Cinderella , the second of Fay's Fairy Tales continues to feature photographer Wegman's famously photogenic weimaraners, but, unlike the previous book, reflects a predominantly adult sensibility. Wegman experiments more here, trying different camera angles, shooting his dressed-up dogs outdoors as well as inside, and achieving a depth of field that recalls the tableaux of old Viewmaster toys. Campiness is the order of the day: for example, an obviously fake stag's head intrudes into one picture of a caped Red Riding Hood carrying goodies through the forest; " 'Look, a deer. It has antlers. It must be a stag. Hello, stag,' she whispered to herself so as not to startle it" reads the facing text. But the irony reaches its apogee when the wolf pretends to Red Riding Hood that it is her grandmother the dog-as-wolf-as-grandmother is a virtual twin of the dog-as-grandmother, so that the "what big ears you have!" sequence becomes tongue-in-cheek. A few jolting images of the "wolf" with bloody fangs presiding over a limp raccoon stole, or of it snapping ferociously at Red Riding Hood may also deter the youngest readers even as their elders are entertained.