{"id":1779472,"date":"2026-02-19T11:41:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T08:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1779472"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:41:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T08:41:00","slug":"rude-in-a-good-way-photographer-roe-ethridge-on-sexuality-and-serendipity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1779472","title":{"rendered":"Rude In A Good Way: Photographer Roe Ethridge on sexuality and serendipity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-187-2000-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437915.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/art-photography\/article\/69675\/1\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way-loose-joints-photo-book-photography-interview\" data-article-id=\"69675\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-portrait-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.75\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_10\" class=\"img\" height=\"2667\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1280\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437915.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">\u00a9 Roe Ethridge 2026 courtesy <span class=\"nowrap\">Loose Joints<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-02-19T11:41:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"19 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"19\">19,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - art-photography\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>Rude In A Good Way: Photographer Roe Ethridge on sexuality <span class=\"nowrap\">and serendipity<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>\u2018If I don\u2019t have a feeling of nausea, maybe it\u2019s not a good photo\u2019: As his new photo book Rude In A Good Way is released, the image-maker reflects on his <span class=\"nowrap\">artistic compulsions<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-19T11:41:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"19 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"19\">19,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-02-19T11:41:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"19 February 2026\"><span class=\"month\">February<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"19\">19,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/sarahmoroz\">Sarah Moroz<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-15-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Roe Ethridge, Rude In A <span class=\"nowrap\">Good Way<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/0\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_01\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-338-2000-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437910.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/1\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_04\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-2000-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437911.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/2\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_06\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-2000-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437912.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/3\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_07\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-853-1999-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437913.jpg\" width=\"1999\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/4\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_08\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1999-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437914.jpg\" width=\"1999\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/5\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_10\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-187-2000-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437915.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 15 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>What constitutes being \u201c<em><a href=\"https:\/\/loosejoints.biz\/products\/rude\">Rude in the Good Way<\/a><\/em>\u201d? It\u2019s impossible not to ponder what exactly this title \u2013 bringing together the recent and not-so-recent work of New York-based photographer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/roe-ethridge\">Roe Ethridge<\/a>\u00a0 \u2013 indicates. Conceptually, it hints at some degree of audacity and insolence; visually, <em>Rude in the Good Way<\/em> is flecked with lace lingerie, argyle socks, boucl\u00e9 blazers, flowers, shells, pearls, underboob, and Lindsay Lohan.<\/p>\n<p>Ethridge works interchangeably between commercial and art spheres, nonchalantly flitting from the branded to the anonymous: shooting for Calvin Klein and exhibiting at Gagosian (where he <a href=\"https:\/\/gagosian.com\/exhibitions\/2026\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-the-good-way\/\">currently has a show<\/a> on view at its Athens space until 7 March). A curator once called Ethridge\u2019s images \u201claconic drop-kicks to the eye\u201d, while a critic said that he \u201cpushes glossy lifestyle imagery into awkwardness\u201d. Below, we spoke to the photographer about embracing visual tangents, photographing nudity, and latent sociopolitical anxiety.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"23b23727-bc6c-4c64-a0da-b3f500bb50fa\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437920.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.75\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_20\" class=\"img\" height=\"2667\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437920.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Lulu with Pink Bow <span class=\"nowrap\">Panties, 2025<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">\u00a9 Roe Ethridge 2026 courtesy <span class=\"nowrap\">Loose Joints<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>The title of the book is very evocative, and I was wondering how it sets the tone for your work.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge: <\/strong>Well, sometimes you get lucky, and a phrase just comes into your head<\/span><span>. It came in a flash and stuck. It did feel like putting my money where my mouth is. A lot of people are asking, \u2018W<\/span>hat<em> is <\/em>rude, what <em>is<\/em> polite?<em><span>\u2019<\/span><\/em><span> It\u2019s sort of that dialectical idea of the good way and the rude way, morphing into this other thing. It\u2019s philosophy 101 stuff, but it makes sense to me as a way to think about the work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>When photographing someone like Lindsay Lohan, viewers come with pre-existing perceptions. Can you talk about depicting celebrities in general \u2013 how that preconception element can complicate what you want to transmit?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge: <\/strong>With Lindsay, it\u2019s not that it could be anybody, right? [With celebrity], it\u2019s different every time. That said, there are some generalities around it. Celebrity brings with it almost a dark intensity. She is a ubiquitous thing, but it&#8217;s not a ubiquitous thing like UPS or a checkered tablecloth. It&#8217;s a person who is continuing to re-contextualise themselves in public all the time, and we are all experiencing it. Unless you decide not to participate in culture, which is fine too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In this case, I photographed her in the studio in front of a green screen. I used my cousin who lives in Miami to take background pictures. I also used pictures from my book <\/span><em>Sacrifice Your Body<\/em><span>\u00a0and pictures from my parents\u2019 hometown in Belle Glade, Florida. When I was taking pictures of the sugar cane, I accidentally put my car in the canal. And then I put the car that Lindsey was using in the story, in place of mine, in Photoshop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>That\u2019s interesting, this revisiting your own work. One image in S<em>pare Bedroom<\/em> has the same wallpaper as in <em>Rude in a Good Way<\/em>. Even the act of republishing works from earlier in your career is a kind of revisiting. Why does relying again on things that you\u2019ve already used feel important to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge: <\/strong>I was fascinated and repulsed by my generic middle-class suburban lot in life, and hated it in many ways. Later on, I came to appreciate it and realised, \u2018<\/span>Oh man, I had a pretty good life<em><span>\u2019<\/span><\/em><span> \u2013 in terms of privilege, but also there was something in this generic identity, or non-identity, of middle-class, American Southern, suburban <em>blah blah blah<\/em> that I could use as subject matter. My dad was interested in photography, but in a sort of \u2018southern suburban man\u2019 way, of just being interested in \u2018what\u2019s a good photograph\u2019: that\u2019s a good photograph of a flower, that\u2019s a good photograph of a bumblebee, that\u2019s a good photograph of a car. It sort of predetermined, in some ways, that I would be interested in these generic typologies, these stock photography things.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I assisted catalogue photographers in Atlanta after I graduated from high school, and I was rolling film and lighting JC Penney\u2019s catalogues. Instead of being an appropriator of culture, like Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman or Lichtenstein \u2013 who I love \u2013 I love making pictures, so I wanted to <\/span><em><span>make<\/span><\/em><span> the pictures: I wanted to author something, without it being like, \u2018<\/span>I\u2019m the genius behind this picture<span>.\u2019 I liked the idea of mediating that notion of genius through stock photography and the diminished forms of the image\u2026 It was a way to self-appropriate. The idea of repurposing from my inventory is as if I have a stock library that I can pull from.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"eae69b75-4efe-4bbd-80ed-b3f500bb525a\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437921.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.5\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_21\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437921.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">From John Currin <span class=\"nowrap\">Studio, 2008<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">\u00a9 Roe Ethridge 2026 courtesy <span class=\"nowrap\">Loose Joints<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>You just mentioned this exasperation with your background. I read an interview where you said,<em> \u2018<\/em><\/strong><strong>I\u2019m interested in weird America\u2019<\/strong><strong>, and talked about David Lynch as a reference. I could see that in <em>Rude in a Good Way<\/em>: there was something recognisable, but very uneasy at the same time. Even with typologies, you\u2019re altering them in a way that creates something askew. How do you cultivate that?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge: <\/strong>I used to say, \u2018If I don\u2019t have a feeling of nausea, maybe it\u2019s not a good photo.\u2019 I don\u2019t think I feel that way so much anymore, but there\u2019s still something to that. There is a sweet spot where \u2013 and I\u2019m not always trying to get the same thing \u2013 I want to stay open-ended and accommodating to discovery, as the priority: the things that I didn\u2019t know I could do with a camera. Or I come in with an idea, but the tangent is so much better; my brain cannot think as well as the things that are on the periphery. So I\u2019m always looking for that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>There is something especially right now \u2013 I mean, Jesus Christ, I think I haven\u2019t slept well in months, you know? This fucking time that we&#8217;re living through is\u2026 awful. In some ways, I want to reserve the right to make beautiful things, despite it being a horrible time, and to not have to be a political commentator or purveyor of an ideology or stuck in a theoretical loop where I\u2019m just navel-gazing. I want richness in my life, a wealth of experiences and ideas, so that\u2019s the priority. But I\u2019m certain that something\u2019s happening here that\u2019s reflecting a kind of mistrust or discomfort or unease\u2026 You don\u2019t have to try. It\u2019s just in there, you know?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Yes, I get that \u2013 a baseline malaise. Are the images from <em>Rude in a Good Way<\/em> all from a recent timeline?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span>This is a great example of that \u2018inventory\u2019 notion.<\/span><span> There are different time periods. <\/span><span>The newest pictures are of [my girlfriend] Lulu. We have hundreds of pictures that we made over the last year. I just put a couple in to introduce this stuff. But that keyed the pictures I took at John Currin\u2019s studio, which I had been like, \u2018<\/span>When am I ever gonna get to use this?\u2019<span> Somehow, it felt like the pictures with Lulu and the pictures of John Currin\u2019s studio connected. It\u2019s almost like that serendipity or discovery that what I\u2019m looking for when I\u2019m making pictures happened in the edit.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"11eb893a-ff41-41d7-a72e-b3f500bb4057\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437914.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.5\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_08\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437914.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Lulu in Green Lace and <span class=\"nowrap\">Fishnets, 2025<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">\u00a9 Roe Ethridge 2026 courtesy <span class=\"nowrap\">Loose Joints<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Is the connection because they\u2019re both so embodied? How do you approach nudity and intimacy?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge:\u00a0<\/strong>I think that there\u2019s been a sort of desire-signifying thing happening in my work from the very beginning. The first picture that I showed at a New York gallery was an outtake from a beauty shot of a model smiling, and, to me, it felt like it was sublimated. I felt like you could sense that there was this circuit of me wanting her to look great, her wanting to look great. It was more than just the male gaze looking upon a beautiful woman. We\u2019re not friends! It was a rent-a-muse, rent-a-photographer relationship. It was totally transactional, but there\u2019s a desire on my side, a desire on her side, and it\u2019s all in that one picture of her face.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With Lulu, we had had a crush on each other 25 years ago. And when we reconnected, it was like: she\u2019s just one of those people. She\u2019s this 50-year-old sexy lady, and she wanted to do these pictures, and I wanted to do these pictures. Instead of going around the edges, it is just really explicit. I think there\u2019s a lot more conversation around older ladies, not just kids and weird fucking perverted shit. This sexuality is a subject of conversation culturally, too. It feels like it <\/span><em><span>could<\/span><\/em><span> be controversial, and certainly there are conversations that Lulu and I have about who the author of the image is and whether it is an equal collaboration. In some ways, there&#8217;s an irresolvable issue around that kind of authorship. But I will say, she\u2019s taking some pictures of me and those may come out someday. We\u2019ll have the opposite conversation <em>[laughs].<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Roe Ethridge\u2019s <\/em>Rude In A Good Way<em> is published by Loose Joints and is available <a href=\"https:\/\/loosejoints.biz\/products\/rude\">here<\/a> now.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. 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creatives from around the world.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid section-header\">\n<div class=\"section-header__link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69675\/1\/art-photography\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"section-header__title\">READ MORE<\/h2>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid tag-article-list\">\n<div class=\"swiper swiper-latest\">\n<div class=\"swiper-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"swiper-slide list-element\">\n<div class=\"scard-latest__section\">\n<div class=\"card-latest__wrapper\"><a class=\"card-latest\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69659\/1\/what-went-down-at-the-dazed-club-private-view-of-new-contemporaries\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"DAZED_CLUB 57\" 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Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-15-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Roe Ethridge, Rude In A <span class=\"nowrap\">Good Way<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/0\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_01\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-338-2000-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437910.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/1\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_04\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-2000-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437911.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/2\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_06\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-2000-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437912.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/3\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_07\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-853-1999-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437913.jpg\" width=\"1999\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/4\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_08\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1999-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437914.jpg\" width=\"1999\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36705\/5\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_10\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-187-2000-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437915.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 15 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p>What constitutes being \u201c<em><a href=\"https:\/\/loosejoints.biz\/products\/rude\">Rude in the Good Way<\/a><\/em>\u201d? It\u2019s impossible not to ponder what exactly this title \u2013 bringing together the recent and not-so-recent work of New York-based photographer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/roe-ethridge\">Roe Ethridge<\/a>\u00a0 \u2013 indicates. Conceptually, it hints at some degree of audacity and insolence; visually, <em>Rude in the Good Way<\/em> is flecked with lace lingerie, argyle socks, boucl\u00e9 blazers, flowers, shells, pearls, underboob, and Lindsay Lohan.<\/p>\n<p>Ethridge works interchangeably between commercial and art spheres, nonchalantly flitting from the branded to the anonymous: shooting for Calvin Klein and exhibiting at Gagosian (where he <a href=\"https:\/\/gagosian.com\/exhibitions\/2026\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-the-good-way\/\">currently has a show<\/a> on view at its Athens space until 7 March). A curator once called Ethridge\u2019s images \u201claconic drop-kicks to the eye\u201d, while a critic said that he \u201cpushes glossy lifestyle imagery into awkwardness\u201d. Below, we spoke to the photographer about embracing visual tangents, photographing nudity, and latent sociopolitical anxiety.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"23b23727-bc6c-4c64-a0da-b3f500bb50fa\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437920.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.75\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_20\" class=\"img\" height=\"2667\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437920.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Lulu with Pink Bow <span class=\"nowrap\">Panties, 2025<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">\u00a9 Roe Ethridge 2026 courtesy <span class=\"nowrap\">Loose Joints<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>The title of the book is very evocative, and I was wondering how it sets the tone for your work.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge: <\/strong>Well, sometimes you get lucky, and a phrase just comes into your head<\/span><span>. It came in a flash and stuck. It did feel like putting my money where my mouth is. A lot of people are asking, \u2018W<\/span>hat<em> is <\/em>rude, what <em>is<\/em> polite?<em><span>\u2019<\/span><\/em><span> It\u2019s sort of that dialectical idea of the good way and the rude way, morphing into this other thing. It\u2019s philosophy 101 stuff, but it makes sense to me as a way to think about the work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>When photographing someone like Lindsay Lohan, viewers come with pre-existing perceptions. Can you talk about depicting celebrities in general \u2013 how that preconception element can complicate what you want to transmit?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge: <\/strong>With Lindsay, it\u2019s not that it could be anybody, right? [With celebrity], it\u2019s different every time. That said, there are some generalities around it. Celebrity brings with it almost a dark intensity. She is a ubiquitous thing, but it&#8217;s not a ubiquitous thing like UPS or a checkered tablecloth. It&#8217;s a person who is continuing to re-contextualise themselves in public all the time, and we are all experiencing it. Unless you decide not to participate in culture, which is fine too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In this case, I photographed her in the studio in front of a green screen. I used my cousin who lives in Miami to take background pictures. I also used pictures from my book <\/span><em>Sacrifice Your Body<\/em><span>\u00a0and pictures from my parents\u2019 hometown in Belle Glade, Florida. When I was taking pictures of the sugar cane, I accidentally put my car in the canal. And then I put the car that Lindsey was using in the story, in place of mine, in Photoshop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>That\u2019s interesting, this revisiting your own work. One image in S<em>pare Bedroom<\/em> has the same wallpaper as in <em>Rude in a Good Way<\/em>. Even the act of republishing works from earlier in your career is a kind of revisiting. Why does relying again on things that you\u2019ve already used feel important to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge: <\/strong>I was fascinated and repulsed by my generic middle-class suburban lot in life, and hated it in many ways. Later on, I came to appreciate it and realised, \u2018<\/span>Oh man, I had a pretty good life<em><span>\u2019<\/span><\/em><span> \u2013 in terms of privilege, but also there was something in this generic identity, or non-identity, of middle-class, American Southern, suburban <em>blah blah blah<\/em> that I could use as subject matter. My dad was interested in photography, but in a sort of \u2018southern suburban man\u2019 way, of just being interested in \u2018what\u2019s a good photograph\u2019: that\u2019s a good photograph of a flower, that\u2019s a good photograph of a bumblebee, that\u2019s a good photograph of a car. It sort of predetermined, in some ways, that I would be interested in these generic typologies, these stock photography things.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I assisted catalogue photographers in Atlanta after I graduated from high school, and I was rolling film and lighting JC Penney\u2019s catalogues. Instead of being an appropriator of culture, like Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman or Lichtenstein \u2013 who I love \u2013 I love making pictures, so I wanted to <\/span><em><span>make<\/span><\/em><span> the pictures: I wanted to author something, without it being like, \u2018<\/span>I\u2019m the genius behind this picture<span>.\u2019 I liked the idea of mediating that notion of genius through stock photography and the diminished forms of the image\u2026 It was a way to self-appropriate. The idea of repurposing from my inventory is as if I have a stock library that I can pull from.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"eae69b75-4efe-4bbd-80ed-b3f500bb525a\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437921.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.5\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_21\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437921.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">From John Currin <span class=\"nowrap\">Studio, 2008<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">\u00a9 Roe Ethridge 2026 courtesy <span class=\"nowrap\">Loose Joints<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>You just mentioned this exasperation with your background. I read an interview where you said,<em> \u2018<\/em><\/strong><strong>I\u2019m interested in weird America\u2019<\/strong><strong>, and talked about David Lynch as a reference. I could see that in <em>Rude in a Good Way<\/em>: there was something recognisable, but very uneasy at the same time. Even with typologies, you\u2019re altering them in a way that creates something askew. How do you cultivate that?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge: <\/strong>I used to say, \u2018If I don\u2019t have a feeling of nausea, maybe it\u2019s not a good photo.\u2019 I don\u2019t think I feel that way so much anymore, but there\u2019s still something to that. There is a sweet spot where \u2013 and I\u2019m not always trying to get the same thing \u2013 I want to stay open-ended and accommodating to discovery, as the priority: the things that I didn\u2019t know I could do with a camera. Or I come in with an idea, but the tangent is so much better; my brain cannot think as well as the things that are on the periphery. So I\u2019m always looking for that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>There is something especially right now \u2013 I mean, Jesus Christ, I think I haven\u2019t slept well in months, you know? This fucking time that we&#8217;re living through is\u2026 awful. In some ways, I want to reserve the right to make beautiful things, despite it being a horrible time, and to not have to be a political commentator or purveyor of an ideology or stuck in a theoretical loop where I\u2019m just navel-gazing. I want richness in my life, a wealth of experiences and ideas, so that\u2019s the priority. But I\u2019m certain that something\u2019s happening here that\u2019s reflecting a kind of mistrust or discomfort or unease\u2026 You don\u2019t have to try. It\u2019s just in there, you know?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Yes, I get that \u2013 a baseline malaise. Are the images from <em>Rude in a Good Way<\/em> all from a recent timeline?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span>This is a great example of that \u2018inventory\u2019 notion.<\/span><span> There are different time periods. <\/span><span>The newest pictures are of [my girlfriend] Lulu. We have hundreds of pictures that we made over the last year. I just put a couple in to introduce this stuff. But that keyed the pictures I took at John Currin\u2019s studio, which I had been like, \u2018<\/span>When am I ever gonna get to use this?\u2019<span> Somehow, it felt like the pictures with Lulu and the pictures of John Currin\u2019s studio connected. It\u2019s almost like that serendipity or discovery that what I\u2019m looking for when I\u2019m making pictures happened in the edit.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"11eb893a-ff41-41d7-a72e-b3f500bb4057\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437914.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.5\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roe_Ethridge_Rude_In_the_Good_Way_08\" class=\"img\" height=\"1333\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437914.jpg\" width=\"2000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Lulu in Green Lace and <span class=\"nowrap\">Fishnets, 2025<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">\u00a9 Roe Ethridge 2026 courtesy <span class=\"nowrap\">Loose Joints<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><strong>Is the connection because they\u2019re both so embodied? How do you approach nudity and intimacy?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Roe Ethridge:\u00a0<\/strong>I think that there\u2019s been a sort of desire-signifying thing happening in my work from the very beginning. The first picture that I showed at a New York gallery was an outtake from a beauty shot of a model smiling, and, to me, it felt like it was sublimated. I felt like you could sense that there was this circuit of me wanting her to look great, her wanting to look great. It was more than just the male gaze looking upon a beautiful woman. We\u2019re not friends! It was a rent-a-muse, rent-a-photographer relationship. It was totally transactional, but there\u2019s a desire on my side, a desire on her side, and it\u2019s all in that one picture of her face.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With Lulu, we had had a crush on each other 25 years ago. And when we reconnected, it was like: she\u2019s just one of those people. She\u2019s this 50-year-old sexy lady, and she wanted to do these pictures, and I wanted to do these pictures. Instead of going around the edges, it is just really explicit. I think there\u2019s a lot more conversation around older ladies, not just kids and weird fucking perverted shit. This sexuality is a subject of conversation culturally, too. It feels like it <\/span><em><span>could<\/span><\/em><span> be controversial, and certainly there are conversations that Lulu and I have about who the author of the image is and whether it is an equal collaboration. In some ways, there&#8217;s an irresolvable issue around that kind of authorship. But I will say, she\u2019s taking some pictures of me and those may come out someday. We\u2019ll have the opposite conversation <em>[laughs].<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Roe Ethridge\u2019s <\/em>Rude In A Good Way<em> is published by Loose Joints and is available <a href=\"https:\/\/loosejoints.biz\/products\/rude\">here<\/a> now.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69675\/1\/roe-ethridge-rude-in-a-good-way-loose-joints-photo-book-photography-interview&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-187-2000-1333\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/7\/1437915.jpg&#8221;] \u00a9 Roe Ethridge 2026 courtesy Loose Joints February\u00a0 19,\u00a0 2026 Art &amp; Photography \/ Q+A Art &amp; Photography \/ Q+A Rude In A Good Way: Photographer Roe Ethridge on sexuality and serendipity \u2018If I don\u2019t have a feeling of nausea, maybe it\u2019s not a good photo\u2019: As his new photo book Rude [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1779472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1779472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1779472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1779472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1779472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}