An Image

In a studio in Munich in the summer of 1983, a small crew spends four days creating a centerfold photograph for the German Playboy. Harun Farocki documents the process from beginning to end. The colorful painted seascape backdrop is replaced by a plain white wall with a faux fireplace, the cushions are carefully arranged by color, and the lighting is adjusted in precise detail. At the center of the composition is a Playboy model, who has to lie naked for hours in an uncomfortable position with the constant click of the shutter in the background.

Farocki never films the anonymous model fully or from the front, but maneuvers the camera to show every team member, prop, and piece of equipment. In fragments of conversation, we hear appraisals of the photograph and the model: her position is wrong, she looks too anxious, and only one breast should be visible. Hundreds of shots are taken for that one perfect Playboy image, destined for the centerfold. An Image is a clinical portrait of the labor behind the creation of an apparently spontaneous fantasy.