2007 - Weltwoche

 



We Were Heroes
December, 2007

Interviewer: Mr. Pointed Ear Peter Hossli

As a Vulcan, Leonard Nimoy stood his ground against the Klingons. As a photographer "Mr. Spock" prefers worldly models: but only those of the expansive variety.
Q: Mr. Nimoy, at forty years of age you had reached the apex of your acting career in the role of "Mr. Spock". Instead of building on that you went back to school to study photography. Why?
LN: As a teenager I had to decide whether I should become a photographer or an actor. Since I got quite a few offers to appear on stage, I became an actor. In Los Angeles I went to drama school, after that I was offered my first movies. My love of photography never waned, though. After three seasons of "Star Trek" and two seasons of "Mission Impossible" I had enough money to do what I really loved to do - take photos.

Q: Some say your career got stalled because people only wanted to see you as Mr. Spock, first officer on the starship Enterprise.
LN: That's not true. I consciously decided to effect change, because as an actor I had achieved enough. I didn't need to appear on film anymore. It was my most heartfelt desire to become a photographer.

Q: You published an art book, "The Full Body Project", in which you depict very large women in a very joyous mood. What fascinates you about plump models?
LN: These are unusual women; one neither sees them in fashion magazines nor in ads. I take an interest in the out of the ordinary in general. Besides, there are few women that are born with the frame of a supermodel or achieve such a body type, no matter how hard they work at it, hunger, swallow diet pills, or get operated on. The women I photographed do not try to look like models. They are large and feel alright with their bodies.


Q: Your photos "fetisize" female obesity.
LN: I find it thrilling to take photos of these women. Sexually I'm not interested, if that is what you are going for.

Q: For years you have taken photos of ravishingly beautiful women. It is not unusual that an intimate relationship develops between an artist and his models. Is that also true for you?
LN: My relationship with my models is purely professional. It is no different than when you act. On the set I do not get turned on after all by the actress I work with.

Q: At the beginning there was a large model that you photographed in your studio. What was your reaction when she undressed?
LN: I thought: "Wow, I've never seen anything like this." I was afraid and thought long about how to photograph her.

Q: How did you overcome your inhibitions? Or did you need some of it to remain in place to do/accomplish your work?
LN: Through work. Diminishing the fear becomes part of the process. After I shot my first model, I started to work with a whole group. I felt alright and secure about it. Those who portray the obese are threading on dangerous ground. Voyeurism is never very far. Hustler and Playboy are voyeuristic magazines, because they objectify women. I'm not voyeuristic, I do not objectify women. I do not debase them. I do not portray them as objects of lust or sexual desire. I think of it as a social project.


Q: Hollywood made you rich. There is hardly another business that puts more emphasis on the female form that you have come to criticize than the one that you have to thank for your villa in Bel Air.
LN: Hollywood only reflects what's going on in society. If a certain female type is en vogue then actresses are cast that fit this type. Hollywood isn't ahead of society; it's trying to catch up.

Q: Has this book changed your perception of the female body?
LN: For twenty years I've been married to a woman that I love very much. I still find her very much erotic and desirable. My book is not about sexuality, it is about humanity. I depict women that are excluded from our culture. But they are flesh and blood humans. They are very beautiful women. It is madness, after all, that women are most applauded when they lose weight.

Q: American physicians have a different take on that. They issue warnings about a fat-epidemic, 60% of the US populace is considered overweight.


LN: You have to distinguish between the overweight and the obese. The overweight often live a longer and healthier life than the lean.

Q: Notwithstanding, they celebrate an unhealthy lifestyle.
LN: It's the advertising industry that demands an unhealthy lifestyle: "Loose ten pounds in three days." "Only eat celery and salad" "Drink only water." That's unhealthy. I know that obesity leads to heart attacks, diabetes or knee problems. I'm not saying: get fat. I do want to stir up a discussion of body images, though.

Q: The New York Times cheers your work for socially strengthening the position of women. Why, of all things, does it have to be a man who does this?
LN: When a woman does it, she gets less attention. I already backed up women in my last book. I show God as a woman in it.

Q: Orthodox Jews vehemently criticized this.
LN: I just like women better than I like men. If there really is a God and I'll meet him after death, I'd like it better if it were a woman instead of a man.
Q: You think you'd meet God?
LN: I have no idea.
Q: Let's talk about "Star Trek"
LN: Is that really necessary?
Q: After all, you'll act in a motion picture again next year. You play Spock as an old man. What ails him in his old age?
LN: Okay, I'm in the new "Star Trek" film, but I don't want to talk about it.

Q: You only can be in this film because Spock, who had died before, was resurrected. Do you believe in life after death?
LN: No.
Q: Before you were Spock, you appeared in over fifty movies and television series. Why, of all things, was it a character with terrestrial and extraterrestrial parents that brought about your breakthrough?
LN: Spock is exceptional, he's intelligent, but most important of all he's got humor. He's dependable. He's a constant. Spock is good to have around in a crisis, he can solve problems, and he is a friend to humanity.
Q: You seem disagreeable to talk about Spock. Is the character a burden?
LN: I don't give it much thought any longer. I do what pleases me. Because of Spock I'm a public figure that, by all means, has its advantages. It makes it easier to draw attention to my projects.

Q: In the mid-seventies you wrote an autobiography by the title "I'm Not Spock". Why?
LN: I'm not Spock. I do not talk like Spock, I do not walk like Spock, and I don't live like Spock.
Q: The title angered your fans.
LN: I wrote the book because a lot of questions concerning Spock and myself were left in the open. While I was writing I happened on a mother and her son at the airport. "Son, this is your favorite television hero, you watch him everyday," the mother said. The boy just shrugged his shoulders. "That's Mr. Spock, walk over to him and say hello." The boy had no idea what his mother was talking about: And rightfully so. I had no makeup on, no long ears, and no costume. After this incident I chose the title "I am Not Spock". It was a mistake. The readers thought I rejected the character. The opposite is true. Spock is a great guy.
Q: The series has made you rich. Do you earn money taking photos?
LN: No. You can't make money with what I'm doing. My hourly wage is a few cents. It makes me proud, though, that my pictures are bought by museums and that private persons collect them, and that people buy my books. But I spent more money on my projects than I get back.


Leonard Nimoy, 76, lives in Los Angeles. He got renown as Mr. Spock in the television series "Star Trek" which was produced from 1966 to 1969. Today he is a photographer.