The pictures have certainly attracted attention. Trendy curator Klaus Biesenbach included Rossell’s photographs in "Mexico City," a group show that opened at P.S. 1 in New York and is now at Kunst-Werke in Berlin through January. Rossell’s work is also featured at the Armory Photography Show, with a party given by D.A.P. on opening night, Oct. 24. Meanwhile, Rossell’s photographs are bound for group exhibitions in Barcelona, London and San Diego, as well, and the University of Salamanca in Spain plans a solo show of 300 images.
But the buzz in the art world barely registers compared to the public uproar caused by "Ricas y Famosas" in Mexico City. The New York Times even covered the brouhaha, not in the arts section, but with a lead story in the international news section.
"Oh God, was I surprised," admits the photographer of the succès de scandale in her hometown. In the weeks following her book’s Mexican release in September, Rossell had so many angry calls that each time the phone rang, she says she felt an "ache in my stomach." But as for one rumor that she had been cut off by her family, she only laughs, "It’s too late for that!" Her immediate family, to the contrary, has been supportive.
But she understands how some of her subjects could have been embarrassed or angered by the backlash against the photos of them.
"They expected to be flattered," she says. "But when I say flattered, I think of ‘flattened,’ and that’s what a photograph does. They were upset that the photographs were not talking and showing their generous side, but showed just one side that is materialist, maybe conceited, unaware of what happens outside of their homes: extreme poverty. They felt misrepresented."
Still, Rossell disavows any specifically didactic intent with the pictures, unlike the politically charged muralist tradition that today constitutes the official canon of Mexican art. She calls such works "pamphlet-ish," and holds that real changes in Mexican society will not be enacted through gallery and museum shows.
"I was looking forward to a confrontation through discussion about the work," she adds, "rather than putting a sign underneath the photographs that says ‘Rich People Suck.’ And that happened. I’m very satisfied."
But the buzz in the art world barely registers compared to the public uproar caused by "Ricas y Famosas" in Mexico City. The New York Times even covered the brouhaha, not in the arts section, but with a lead story in the international news section.
"Oh God, was I surprised," admits the photographer of the succès de scandale in her hometown. In the weeks following her book’s Mexican release in September, Rossell had so many angry calls that each time the phone rang, she says she felt an "ache in my stomach." But as for one rumor that she had been cut off by her family, she only laughs, "It’s too late for that!" Her immediate family, to the contrary, has been supportive.
But she understands how some of her subjects could have been embarrassed or angered by the backlash against the photos of them.
"They expected to be flattered," she says. "But when I say flattered, I think of ‘flattened,’ and that’s what a photograph does. They were upset that the photographs were not talking and showing their generous side, but showed just one side that is materialist, maybe conceited, unaware of what happens outside of their homes: extreme poverty. They felt misrepresented."
Still, Rossell disavows any specifically didactic intent with the pictures, unlike the politically charged muralist tradition that today constitutes the official canon of Mexican art. She calls such works "pamphlet-ish," and holds that real changes in Mexican society will not be enacted through gallery and museum shows.
"I was looking forward to a confrontation through discussion about the work," she adds, "rather than putting a sign underneath the photographs that says ‘Rich People Suck.’ And that happened. I’m very satisfied."
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