{"id":207,"date":"2007-12-19T05:23:05","date_gmt":"2007-12-19T05:23:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.foto8.com\/live\/?p=207"},"modified":"2007-12-19T05:23:05","modified_gmt":"2007-12-19T05:23:05","slug":"acts-of-charity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foto8.com\/live\/acts-of-charity\/","title":{"rendered":"Acts of Charity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"text\">The ghost of Hunter S. Thompson is calling. This hallucinatory set of images of the American charidee scene enthral and appall in equal measure. Peterson has lent us the key to a garish, nightmarish world, where New York\u2019s \u00fcber-rich siphon off a little of their richesse, and via an elaborate theatre of gala dinners, fire and ice balls and celebrity endorsement, indulge freely in the gift of giving.<\/p>\n<p> Small dogs in couture outfits wolf down delicate amuse-bouches, while their owners save the world with due pomp and ostentation. Diners at a benefit do not seem to notice that the centrepiece on their immaculately-laid table is a dead fox &#8230; and what\u2019s more, it\u2019s wearing a hat. Another reveller appears to be showing a gorilla the merits of a pure silk tie.<\/p>\n<p> Despite the good intention that must underpin a charitable act, a quiet menace pervades these pictures. Malevolence creeps into the most innocent of scenes \u2026 and to give Peterson his due, this is no simple hatchet job. The lurid, swirling images brilliantly conjure up the sensation just prior to fainting or vomiting, and as such would not be out of place in the \u201chorror\u201d section of an avant-garde bookshop. A more savage edit, one feels, would have rendered the book entirely unclassifiable.<\/p>\n<p> As well as the giddy pictures, there are two text sections, which provide a context for Peterson\u2019s photographic exploration. We learn that Americans spend almost twice as much per year on charitable donations ($900) as they do on fast food ($500). That\u2019s laudable \u2013 butt-diminishing, even \u2013 yet you can\u2019t help but wonder if there isn\u2019t a more direct way of redistributing wealth, as Philip Weiss points out in the introduction. In 2001, Iraq pledged $93million in aid to \u201cpoor Americans\u201d. Have you heard George W shout about that one recently? We also learn that in an overwhelmingly Christian land, Americans still possess a moving faith in the power of money, as is evident from the following quote by Lilly Tartikoff, party organiser:<\/p>\n<p> \u201cI was in billionaire heaven. Ronald Perelman, Mr Giorgio Armani and Mr Rupert Murdoch &#8230; I was thinking \u2018God, you could cure cancer with these three gentleman.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p> In <\/span><span class=\"italic\"><span class=\"text\">Acts of Charity<\/span><\/span><span class=\"text\">, we sneek a look at an elite slice of American life, preserved for posterity, hilarity or just sheer vulgarity. Hunter would have approved. Pass the mint juleps. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Max Houghton <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p style=\"color: #999999\"><a href=\"index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=168:acts-of-charity&amp;catid=19&amp;Itemid=77\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"review_photo\" src=\"http:\/\/www.foto8.com\/reviews\/V4N1\/resources\/CharityCover.jpg\" alt=\"Acts of Charity\" title=\"Acts of Charity\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" height=\"91\" hspace=\"0\" width=\"115\" \/><\/a> <span style=\"color: white;\"><span class=\"review_author\">Mark Peterson<\/span><br \/><span class=\"review_additional\"> Published by powerHouse Books<br \/> $35<br \/> 160pp Hardback<\/span><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.5 - 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