Fashion Photographer Miles Aldridge Not So Interested In Diversity

A newly released book of his photography entitled I Only Want You to Love Me features a cast of look-a-like "Western" models. And by "Western," Aldridge means white.

"My gaze, my radar is a middle class or upper class white woman," Aldridge says.

Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me; Rizzoli, New York 2013.

I Only Want You To Love Me cover; Aldridge quoted from an interview with Bullett magazine.

And so I Only Want You To Love Me is filled with suitably porcelain-skinned caricatures. Rich white women lying on nice carpets, for example.

Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me; Rizzoli, New York 2013.

Rich women eating caviar faux-seductively.

Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me; Rizzoli, New York 2013.

Rich white women appearing on Extreme Couponers

Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me; Rizzoli, New York 2013.

"This week my local supermarket has baked beans on sale at $1.49 and I have a coupon for $1.50 off so I'm going to buy 600 tins and then throw them all away because I don't even know what baked beans are."

Rich white women lighting their cigarettes from the oven.

Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me; Rizzoli, New York 2013.

Wait, shouldn't there be a maid handy to do this sort of thing?

Rich white women eating steak tartare.

Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me; Rizzoli, New York 2013.

And rich white (topless) women eating oysters.

Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me; Rizzoli, New York 2013.

A gallery show in New York by the same name features more of Aldridge's whitewashed work.

bullettmedia.com

Of the one discordant image featuring in the exhibition (pictured above), Aldridge explains, "I didn’t set out to shoot a “fat” girl because I thought that would be funny. I was aware that Fellini had done some amazing images with large women and I thought that was something I could try.

"By having a large person, somebody who’s outside of this typical demographic, then I start saying something about being a large person. Do you see my point? I’m not interested in saying that Felicity is questioning her largeness, I’m interested in the world."

The world of rich white women, yes.

Aldridge's aesthetic extends uniformly beyond his new book.

There are hundreds of his photos showcased in the "Editorials" section of his website. None feature models of color.

There are white women with white milk.

Via milesaldridge.com

Certainly not chocolate milk, from Vogue Italia 2009.

White women with white tennis balls.

milesaldridge.com

From U.S. Vogue, 2006.

White women at the White House

From The New York Times Magazine, 2007.

Oh, and Marilyn Manson.

Via milesaldridge.com

From an editorial titled, no joke, "Beyond the Pale," in U.S. Vogue,, 2006.

Here's one example of his editorial photography featuring a black model.

Via forums.thefashionspot.com

Also featuring some dead lobsters. (From Vogue Italia, April 2011; an editorial which doesn't feature on his personal website.)

The only shoot including models of color within Aldridge's portfolio is a 2008 MAC campaign.

Via milesaldridge.com

Four shots from this campaign include black and/or Asian models.

In conclusion, another Aldridge quote: "The world is fucked, what a mess. But I don’t feel responsible and I don’t want to change it."