A billboard advertisement for Bucknell University’s art gallery features a picture of 67-year-old Margaret Manchot, proud-faced and dressed only in a girdle alongside the slogan “Look at you loving me.” Manchot rests her hands behind her head in the picture and exudes confidence in herself, love handles, age spots and all.
The picture was taken by Manchot’s daughter, Melanie, who explained that she purposely sought out an “atypical” model for her exhibit, which consists of 60 mostly nude photographs. “What I wanted to do was work with someone who had fallen out of that group — simply because they were older,” she explained.
The ad has created some controversy among locals, some of whom argue that the ad lacks artistic value. Others disagree. Bucknell art history professor Christiane Andersson mused, “Is she beautiful? Why do we think she is, or why do people not think she is? It tells us everything about our society.”
Bucknell University enrolls about 3,500 students and is located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
