Thursday evening, I left work with my friend and colleague, Ling. As we were walking down Varick Street, I was yammering knowledgeably about a topic in which I am an expert, a topic I now completely draw a blank on, but possibly it was about the failing memory one struggles with in one’s middle years, when a provocative black and white photo plastered over a graffiti defaced wall caught my eye. I almost threw my neck out looking at it.
Mystery poster
Ling and I were both drawn to this image like metal to magnet, or at least like two deathly-bored office drones cut loose from another dreary day in purgatory. Intrigued, we slowly approached this perversely carnal picture placed at eye level outside the entrance to the downtown 1 train.
Me: What do you make of this?
Ling: I don’t think that was there when I came in this morning.
It could have been there when I exited my train since I was fixated on the doublewide hindquarters of a woman that moved with the vigor of a hung over snail that I could not get past. She was completely body blocking me as I was climbing up the stairs behind her on the verge of losing my mind. Therefore, I arrived at work steaming – and fifteen minutes late.
Upon closer inspection, Ling and I noticed that in the lower right corner this image is called Conception. I interpreted that to be a clue. When I returned home I Google searched it 517 different ways, but came up empty. When I searched “conception poster”, I got this:
Juno meets Inception thanks to Photoshop.
It does not appear to be for a music group, but in 1951, a compilation album called Conception was issued featuring Miles Davis, Stan Getz, and Lee Konitz among other jazz greats. Only two of the twelve tracks are available on iTunes, so I guess that’s not the best go-to source for classic jazz.
There is an upcoming film called Conception directed by Josh Stolberg. He wrote Piranha 3D which opens August 20th. I thought I was finally traveling down the right path, but it appears that this film he’s written and directed is a romance that he describes on his blog as being about “ … sex and love. It follows nine different couples and the moments leading up to the conception of their children.” Somehow, I doubt this would be a teaser poster for his project.
Next, I emailed the picture to my friend, Coco, a reliable source in the department of the unusual. She was not familiar with it, either, but was on board with the shoes and belly. She is going to run it by her hairdresser, Carlisle, and fashion photographer bud, Pierre and get back to me.
Last but not least, I emailed the photo to Milton for his input. I asked if he thinks it’s for a product completely unrelated to the image shown such as clothes; maternity wear? He absorbed my question and concluded that it looked more like an ad for a European vacuum cleaner.
Milton: Definitely not a Hoover.
