Item of the Week: "Loose Change" by Suzanne Opton

Opton's photographs portray aging women in a positive light.

New to the Chrysler this week is photographer Suzanne Opton’s book “Loose Change.” It showcases photos from her 2001 exhibition by the same name. All the pieces feature middle aged women posing nude with household items.


Opton, perhaps best known for her “Soldier” portraits, ensures her subject’s anonymity by focusing solely on the body. She stresses her feminist perspective by pairing the women with sponges and toasters, commenting on society’s expectations of women. Many of the women also pose with vases, traditional symbols of femininity.

Few artists have dealt with the aging body with such a positive perspective. Rodin famously portrayed an aging courtesan that had once been beautiful in his sculpture “The Kiss.” In response, Erwin Blumenfeld photographed the model for “The Kiss” as an old woman defeated by her body. Only in recent years have artists like Anne Noggle and Joyce Tennyson portrayed the aging body in a positive light.

The book includes interviews with the models, which provide fascinating insight into the way women see themselves.

“What struck me was the universality of the photos, of the bodies,” says one of the anonymous models. “It felt like we all look like that: we bulge a little here, we sag a little there, and there’s beauty, too. That was nice, seeing that realized as art.”

“Loose change is what’s left over at the end of the day,” author Vicki Goldberg writes in the afterword. “It makes a pretty jingle but hasn’t much power and doesn’t go far.” The women featured, she points out, are so much more.

Ultimately, the project celebrates the beauty of all women, regardless of their age or shape.

Want to learn more about Suzanne Opton’s work? Two of her “Soldier” portraits are included in our collection at the Chrysler, or visit her website for more information.