FRANCE

Doris Kloster
dorisklosterfoto@aol.com

< Tile sponsored by Rory MacPherson >

Doris Kloster is a photographer based in New York City and Paris. Her books include “Doris
Kloster,” Taschen, Koln, 1995; “Forms of Desire,” St. Martin's Press, New York, 1998; “The
Illustrated Story of O,” St. Martin's Press and La Musardine, Paris, 2000; and “Doris Kloster's
Demimonde,” Carlton Books, London, 2003.

About the tile:
Who holds the power over women's self image?

I photographed the image for this tile at the Louvre as part of a series of pictures entitled
"Women in Stone." I began this project in 1985 and have continued up until the present
photographing sculptural representations of women all over the world. I find the cold
unmoving forms in chiseled stone to be a sharp contrast to the malleable live models I
normally photograph. But these stone sisters serve me equally well in my investigations of
stereotypes of women. I have photographed depictions of the Virgin Mary in churches all over
Europe, the temple goddesses of Angkor Wat, Magdelines in Venice, Athenas in Greece.
This woman of stone shall persevere in this 4x4 ceramic tile as she travels all over the world,
from the time of antiquity through today and beyond.