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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Expanded Views of the Ideal Female, 5 Jun 2004
Venus contains more than 150 images provided by almost 50 photographers. Anyone who would like to see a variety of perspectives on the ideal female and modern views of physical relationships will find images that are pleasing. The range of work goes from modest views of clothed women and shots of backs to more aggressive works involving leather, lacy under garments, and multiple intimate partners. Yet the work is always more thoughtful than erotic. Fans of classic female forms will be interested to see how that style has been expanded to capture subtle effects of reflections on water, multiple shadows, and connections between models. Those who are interested in body piercing and tattoos will find many interesting images of how these tastes affect female images. The book begins with a fine essay about the classic photographic undraped form, and how the concepts behind that expression have been successfully challenged and changed in the last 30 years or so. The major weakness of the book is that the reproduction doesn't always capture the full mystery of some of the works built around subtleties of light and focus. A minor weakness is that captions and credits are kept to a minimum. There are brief paragraphs about each photographer so you can get a flavor of how each photographer's work is aimed. I apologize for having to reference my favorite works by page number, but there's no alternative. Outstanding works to me included Bob Carlos Clark (p. 24), Michael Childers (p. 29), Wolfgang Eichler (p. 36), Hideki Fujii (p. 47), Steve Diet Goedde (p. 59), Sandro Hyams (p. 69), George Platt Lynes (p. 134), Philip Porcella (p. 137), Cat de Rham (p. 145), Sharam Sanai (p. 158), Marco Sanger (pp. 162-167), Sarah Saudek (p. 172), Jan Saudek (p. 174), Leeanne Schmidt (p. 180), Nigel Scott (p. 189), Jeanloup Sieff (p. 191), Del Lagrace Volcano (p. 196), Katrina Webb (p. 214), and Ben Westwood (pp. 219-220, 222). This book got me to thinking about the qualities that I admire most in women, and provides many possible models. I was especially impressed by the works that emphasized the model's personality, as much of the best celebrity photography does well. How have your ideas changed about the ideal female?
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by Peter Delius
by Tom Jacobi
by Maxim Jakubowski
by Elodie Piveteau
