Style: Party animals

If you thought high society was all grace and glamour, think again. Being rich doesn't bring good taste, as Swiss photographer Thomas Kern mercilessly reveals

Poor woman. There she is enjoying an evening of Champagne and cultured conversation at the Zurich Press Ball, perhaps allowing herself to ponder on her elevated status as part of Swiss high society. Little does she realise, however, that stalking her though the sea of dinner- suited men and frou-frou frocked women is her countryman Thomas Kern. Like a wildlife photographer, he creeps up on the rich at play, takes his shots without disturbing his prey, and departs.

Poor woman also, because Thomas Kern has the ability to reveal that the members of high society are not all they seem. His portfolio shows (just in case you hadn't clicked already) that the ultra-rich often lack the thing they so desire and determinedly pursue - good taste. Shot from behind, we see one victim's flesh dripping over the edge of her too-tight strapless dress, bleached hair crimped and curled to death. Instead of looking glamorous, she has ended up resembling Lily Savage on a bad night.

Whereas the pictures that adorn the society pages of magazines across the world conspire to show their subjects as healthy, tanned and assured, Kern's black and white pictures show them as harsh, haughty and mean. To be fair to Kern, he often allows his subjects to remain anonymous: for example, just shooting a partygoer's feet and her yappy dog, or the jewel-filled plunging neckline of an overdressed woman. He lets us decide what these people with their grand manners, giant cigars and strained smiles are really all about.

But there's also some pathos (if only a little). The tall young man dancing with the short older woman looks almost suicidal as he shuffles around in his ill-fitting suit and clip-on bow tie. You see him looking over the head of his dance partner and you know he'd rather be anywhere else but here.

Kern's cold-eyed lens makes you rather pleased to lack riches - and a Swiss passport. Bruno Lawrence