Victor Noir at Père Lachaise
Added 2023-01-09 20:39:45 +0000 UTCFrom the vault, a film made many moons ago in Paris at Père Lachaise at the tomb of Victor Noir. I remember seeing something about this on TV when I was little, and so on my first trip to Paris, I was intent on seeing it.
I arrived in Paris not knowing anyone, but I had been connected with photographer Christophe Mourthe through my friends at the fetish magazine Marquis in Germany, and so I took the train over after a shoot there. Christophe barely spoke English back then, and I slept on the sofa in his studio. It was perfect for me actually, a two-floor studio with a show and beauty station, a little kitchenette and sofa-bed upstairs, and the photo studio below. I also recall that Christophe had his vintage toy collection there in the upstairs office, cases and cases of Asterix (I think the character is names something like that!) toys and things.
So I had asked Christophe about the gravesite of Victor Noir. I think many people know about this, but the legend was that women would straddle the statue (with the prominent bulge in his pants) for fertility. I wanted to recreate this fantasy, and so we went for it! Later, they fence the gravesite in to keep people off of it, which could have been because the photos of me went around the world at that time, appearing in photo and art magazines. Now, it is unfenced again. You can also see that the grave has a lot of patina except for the polished bulge and the feet. Apparently after mounting the statue, one would also touch caress his boots, which is something like the expression "to sweep one off their feet". There is much you can read about Victor Noir if you are intrigued, but meanwhile, here is the little film.
