The Beholder. Boris Sitnikov

… Peeping Tom? According to the popular story, Lady Godiva took pity on the people of Coventry, who were suffering grievously under her husband’s oppressive taxation. Lady Godiva appealed again and again to her husband, who obstinately refused to remit the tolls. At last, weary of her entreaties, he said he would grant her request if she would strip naked and ride through the streets of the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word and, after issuing a proclamation that all persons should stay indoors and shut their windows, she rode naked through the town, clothed only in her long hair. Just one person in the town, a tailor ever afterwards known as Peeping Tom, disobeyed her proclamation in one of the most famous instances of voyeurism. In the story, Tom bores a hole in his shutters so that he might see Godiva pass, and is struck blind. In the end, Godiva’s husband keeps his word and abolishes the onerous taxes.

The story with its episode of “Peeping Tom,” appeared first among 17th century chroniclers. At the time, it was customary for penitents to make a public procession in their shift, a sleeveless white garment similar to a slip today and one which was certainly considered “underwear.” Thus, some scholars speculate, Godiva may have actually travelled through town as a penitent, in her shift. Godiva’s story may have passed into folk history to be recorded in a romanticised version.
In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature. In popular imagination the term is used in a more general sense to refer to someone who habitually observes others without their knowledge, with no necessary implication of sexual interest.
Voyeurism – from the French voyeur, “one who looks” – can take several forms, but its principal characteristic is that the voyeur does not normally relate directly with the subject of their interest, who is often unaware of being observed. The practice of making a permanent image of an intimate activity has been made easier with modern photographic and video technology, and upskirt and downblouse photography is considered an invasion of privacy.
Some fine art photographers have displayed a fascination with the forms of secret voyeuristic photography.
Our today’s “beholder” is Boris Sitnikov…

Boris Sitnikov @ Photodom
Contact: boris@mail.ru