Miley Cyrus and the Real Photo She Should Worry About

May 1, 2008 at 5:10 AM
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Being a photographer that shoots a lot of teenagers, I've been watching the Miley Cyrus/Vanity Fair controversy pretty closely. Everyone is talking about the bare-back photo and, honestly I don't get it. I see more skin than that at prom. Far more disturbing is the photo of Miss Cyrus and her dad, Billy Ray. She is very suggestively draped across his lap with her hip bones jutting out holding his hand. To me that photo is more representative of daddy using daughter to boost his career than the very empowering photo of her by herself. Rebecca Traister on Salon has been the only journalist I've heard or read that noticed that little gem.

As far as Annie Leibovitz's role in all this, she did her job. It's any photographers job to push the subject matter as far as it is willing to go. Some have said that Leibovitz exploited Miley for her own gain. Not any more than her father has/did. A young girl coming to terms with her own sexuality is one thing. Being helped by her father is something totally different.

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This MC stuff is interesting. Bett loves Miley. Many of her friends are big Hannah Montana fans. And it seems to escalate from 5 year olds forward. From the outside looking in I know what Disney portrays is the only version of Miley my child will be exposed to. She will never see Vanity Fair. And if she did I wonder if she would even recognize Miley in the photos. They are pretty shots. I hope they were worth the hell her career will get.

When you choose to promote yourself as wholesome in the face of the Spears sisters you need to walk the walk or face loosing your reputation. Goes back to what Grandmother said, that your reputation will matter. And that boy is only using you. In this case "that boy" is any adult sponsoring Miley to make money. It is not her fault. She is only 15. Even if she said no, "who can say no to Annie." Just like Jamie Lynn Spears should have said no to the boy who knocked her up. But, it is hard to say no in the heat of the moment... then your reputation is shot.

Annie is intimidating to adults. She even told the queen to take her crown off and she did. Miley needed an agent from hell with her that day.

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Good point. What does that mean for a photographer to have that kind of power over her subjects? Man- that is a whole other blog post.

I read somewhere that said her dad should have stayed around. After seeing that photo of the two of them I thought, crap, that wouldn't help her! He was a willing participant in the whole thing. Have you seen the video of the behind the scenes? Creepy! If she had just kept her mouth shut only 0.2% of the population would have seen it. Now, VF.com has had record traffic.

Miley Cyrus and the Real Photo She Should Worry About

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