Red Hot show challenges ginger stereotypes
- 10 years ago
Freckles are hot. Ginger is sexy.
That’s the message of a new photo exhibition in New York that seeks to rebrand the unfortunate male ginger stereotype.
‘Red Hot’ is British fashion photographer and music producer Thomas Knights’ first solo exhibition.
Knights, who himself struggled as a young man with ginger hair, says he wanted to challenge the stigmas associated with being ginger, often propagated by the media and the film industry:
“I want people who are making the decisions in Hollywood to kind of actually decide to have a ginger guy as their lead man, as their heartthrob hero, the sort of positive character and not just the negative character, either the villain, or the bad guy, or the Judas character or the sort of pick last at gym, sort of undesirable character. I want them to actively decide that they’re going to choose a ginger guy as their lead character, as their positive male role,” says Knights.
The exhibition also focuses on the gap between the way our society perceives red-headed women, often seen as the ultimate sex symbol like Jessica Rabbit – as opposed to ginger men.
“(Red-haired) Women are always like the goddesses, gorgeous, the supermodels and the movie stars, all of that, the cartoons. But men in the media have always been either the ugly redhead or the bully or the outcast, so it’s time to change that, it’s definitely time to change that,” says actor Daniel Newman, who posed for Knights.
The show coincides with the launch of Thomas Knights’ ‘Red Hot 100’ art book containing the photographs featuring in the exhibition.
‘Red Hot’ runs in New York until the 14th of September.
That’s the message of a new photo exhibition in New York that seeks to rebrand the unfortunate male ginger stereotype.
‘Red Hot’ is British fashion photographer and music producer Thomas Knights’ first solo exhibition.
Knights, who himself struggled as a young man with ginger hair, says he wanted to challenge the stigmas associated with being ginger, often propagated by the media and the film industry:
“I want people who are making the decisions in Hollywood to kind of actually decide to have a ginger guy as their lead man, as their heartthrob hero, the sort of positive character and not just the negative character, either the villain, or the bad guy, or the Judas character or the sort of pick last at gym, sort of undesirable character. I want them to actively decide that they’re going to choose a ginger guy as their lead character, as their positive male role,” says Knights.
The exhibition also focuses on the gap between the way our society perceives red-headed women, often seen as the ultimate sex symbol like Jessica Rabbit – as opposed to ginger men.
“(Red-haired) Women are always like the goddesses, gorgeous, the supermodels and the movie stars, all of that, the cartoons. But men in the media have always been either the ugly redhead or the bully or the outcast, so it’s time to change that, it’s definitely time to change that,” says actor Daniel Newman, who posed for Knights.
The show coincides with the launch of Thomas Knights’ ‘Red Hot 100’ art book containing the photographs featuring in the exhibition.
‘Red Hot’ runs in New York until the 14th of September.