Her A side is called Tracie, a Texas born american. But her B side is known as Diana of Tripoli or Lust. Tracie, or Diana de Tripoli, is photographer of the world with an excelent photographic work exploring erotism and sensuality in her Decadence: Element pieces (you will need a Flickr account to peek it!), as in several of her day-by-day pictures.
We asked Tracie to give A Vida Secreta a small interview and the young woman – sympathetic and gracious – said ok and allowed us to use some pictures that you can see in this interview and in the header of some of AVS pages.
Enjoy!
(Thanks Tracie, keep peeking!)
Tracie, Diana, Lust and Decadence
1) Please, introduce yourself. Tell us about you relationship with photography, if you are professional or if is this a hobby you take seriously , and how it has started.
[laughs] I am definitely not a professional! It’s just something I picked up. It’s one of those art forms that has the element of instant gratification (especially if it’s digital). I can paint and draw – but have no patience for either, which is why I have very few pieces. But photography – photography can capture life in its raw most true form. There is something very intimate and warm about life that inspires me to want to always remember.
2) In your Flickr album, sometimes you show yourself in your daily life with your friends, family or even you in your bedroom with a sweet or a sexy look. But here is the Decadence Element, which is like you showing the way you see the world, the society, and the way you feel about sex and erotism. Do you see yourself like a voyeur or like an exhibitionist? How does erotism influence your art?
Honestly, I wish erotism influenced my life more [lights a cigarette]. I think my piece on Decadence was a form of acting out. I felt I was starved for it in sense. I also wanted to bring it out in the public’s eye, because it isn’t something we [Americans] are faced with everyday. I mean shit, sodomy is outlawed in Texas. Not that I was running around taking it in ass. I’m just simply saying. I wanted the public’s reaction – to bring it out on the streets, because I’m comfortable with my body and so should everyone else.
A lot of my inspiration for that particular piece came from a class I took my senior year of college called the “Modern Art and the Idea of Decadence.†The class was sexually charge, I mean, masturbation, homosexuality, even child nudity. It crossed all boundaries. The idea of decadence is a conservatives’ view that this is the decay of society, this art is the decay of society, when in fact I think it is the underbelly of society screaming forth. Perhaps the shackles of religion and financial institutions place this type of pressure on society that forces us to act out in ways the status quo would rather that we didn’t. I do believe there is a point of where it can, in fact, go to far. It’s a delicate balance.
But then again, you could look at Ancient Rome in comparison to today‘s standards of beauty, even sex. They had civilization, good infrastructure and law and they were open with their sexuality in all areas of public life. You could walk into someone’s home and see a man painted on a wall in the foyer holding a balance with coins on one side and his cock resting on the other. People wore rings with sexual positions proudly displayed on them. If you want to talk about the change in perception of beauty, their fertility goddess was supple and in today’s standards overweight. I find beauty in that. She radiates life. In one of my pieces she is being slain, because society has murdered her and made women like her self-conscious. None of that should matter, the human body is beautiful and should be celebrated in all its forms.
I also think, in my upbringing, the topic of sex has always been a closed subject as are politics and religion and this became a way or an outlet to explore and announce myself to the world.
3) More and more, sex and erotic elements are used in marketing and publicity: catalogs, calendar, tv and magazine advertisements. Do you think they are just trying to sell more and more, or is the society the way it faces erotism?
Sex sells. There’s a commercial for tires and washing machines and they some how found a way to get a scantily clad female in the their 30 second air time. They know what they’re doing irrelevant as it may be. Even the porn industry has an undercurrent of influence. Because they are the highest grossing media in terms of sales, they determine if we are blue ray or high-def or VHS. It makes sense. It speaks to our most primal and basic needs. To be wanted, desired and to procreate. And yes, definitely, the way sex is portrayed in the media mirrors a movement in society as a status quo; I wouldn‘t say as a whole.
4) What is the line that defines Erotic Art and Trash Pornography? What are the elements that defines this thin line and how do you like them?
I am not a fan of “Trash Pornography,†personally. It’s like the difference between a prostitute and your wife/girlfriend. It’s cheap. Sure you’re going to get your jollies off either way, but one is less satisfying and more deviant than the other. “Trash Pornography†like a prostitute will leave you feeling empty.
5) Secret and Public lives. Most people have a kind of A side they show to the world and a B side they don’t show society, family and sometimes they even hide from themselves! (or show just in internet) Most of time the B sides are related to sex and erotic matters. What do you think about people hidding their B side lives, living a half-life and how do you manage these sides?
Wow. I’m a private person. Yes, I have my half-naked, very exposed erotic self on the internet, but the people in my day-to-day life, like my coworkers or people I see out on the streets, even my family do not have access to my site. The rest of the world does. I know people won’t appreciate it and I also know that in a professional world and living in a Christian society it is looked down upon and so be it. But I do not want to subject myself to a certain type of discrimination – if you want to call it that. I am more than these pictures. These pictures are my art and my form of expression. I would rather share it with those who can appreciate it – like yourself.
I will also say having two lives in a way is devious and a little bit thrilling. I like having a secret life and I like letting those close to me experience it. I consider it a form of intimacy.
6) What other artists that use erotic elements do you like and have influence on your works?
Robert Mapplethorpe was my main influence for my Decadence piece. Hands-down. Outside of that I am part of that underbelly that wishes to explore and be exposed – almost like the curiosity of Pandora. I have my limits as a subject, but I do not have limits or prejudice as a photographer. I have many friends who also share the same sentiment. I think it frees us.
More Interviews to come
The portuguese version of this interview can be read in Entrevista com Diana of Tripoli – Autora de Decadence: Element. Soon, we will publish more interviews, given by photographers with erotic themes and element. Stay tuned!