Not that we want to turn this blog into an obituary collection (see the post on dead German painters), but today marks the 15th anniversary of the death of Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales. You might think this lady had got nothing to do with art and we’re only writing on her to get our share of Google search, but in fact she did. Not only was she the subject of numerous art works, she actually was an artist herself. A performance artist, to be more precise.
In 2005, Berlin based artist Belaid le Mharchi comprised his series “Diana Spencer” of found footage, mostly Paparazzi and press agency shots of Diana getting out of a car and made it into a book (see his website for more info.)
A person getting out of a car is one of the most standardised and most repeated subjects in people photography. It is a moment where the photographer can catch his subject either completely off-guard, or completely camera-conscious. Diana’s car photo moments were of the latter kind, her stepping out of a car always was the opener of a carefully choreographed public appearance. As le Mharchi’s composition of images reveals, the princess continuously worked on that moment, trying different postures and movements (both legs out simultanously, one leg after the other, both legs bent, one bent, one straight, etc), eventually bringing her performance to perfection.
Diana’s way of getting out of a car was so pitch perfect, it was logic that her life should end with NOT getting out of a car.
Available Works 