I could seriously write a doctoral thesis about this photo. It says everything that needs to be said about the Jersey Shore phenomenon (both good and bad) without needing any sort of explanation at all. Snooki’s in a visually assaulting (but fun!) outfit yellling at a poor gyspy woman only a few feet away through a bullhorn. Seriously folks, this is fine art – the photographic equivalent of Banksy graffiti.
The genius here is in the composition – it’s perfectly balanced both visually and thematically but avoids stodginess with the lines created by the direction of the gypsy’s arm and that of Snooki’s megaphone. There’s even a line straight down the middle formed by the frame of the doorway in the background that is almost heavy-handededly perfect.
On the left we have the diminutive Snooki wearing a white ball cap, sunglasses, sleeveless shirt, animal print mini skirt, a pair of ridiculously furry pair of boots and speaking through a bullhorn. On the right we have the gypsy with a scarf around her head, a long-sleeved, full-length coat and dress, a pair of simple, sandal-like footwear and speaking through a begger’s cup. And of course Snooki is bathed in bright light while the gypsy stands in the shadows – not to mention the doorway of frivolous tourist trinkets behind Snooki versus the unadorned dark doorway behind the gyspy…
My eyes and my heart are torn – a visual debate between Dionysus and Apollo for which there can be no clear winner. (Actually, the split represented in the picture is more along the hedonistic/ascetic lines, but it just sounds cooler to name drop Greek Gods in the fashion of Nietzsche.)
To top things off, the gypsy was reportedly so put off by Snooki’s antics that she placed a curse on her. Seriously!
I’m telling you folks – artistically speaking this is the single greatest Jersey Shore photo of all time – and possibly one of the greatest statement images ever captured by a member of the paparazzi. If Jersey Shore Season 4 was a film this would be the movie poster. It IS Jersey Shore in Florence. As our writer-in-residence in Florence wrote in her revealing article about the secret thriving party life (Dionysus!) already existing in Italy’s cultural mecca (Apollo!), “You’d think a city that could survive the black death, the Medicis, and Savanarola could weather The Situation, but you never know.” (You can swap out Snooki for The Situation in this particular case – the point remains the same.)
To get more of the shore in Florence, hop over to our post about Vinny’s wild night basically filming The Hangover 3!
