Africa (Hardcover)

by Herb Ritts (Author), Judith Jamison (Contributor)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
This sumptuously designed and printed book shows some unusual subjects by Ritts, well known for his fashion and celebrity photographs. His easily recognizable style has been applied here to Africa (many images were made in Tanzania and feature the Maasai tribe), where he focuses on textures and the play of light and shadows on human faces, wild animals, carcasses, and bones. He chooses exotic landscapes as backgrounds for his posed shots, mostly young African women, whose skin, hair, and jewelry are elegantly presented. Some of the strongest images are surreal juxtapositions of animals (and men) devouring newly killed beasts; desert-tough feet; and men wearing skull masks. The presentation is impeccable, but listing captions at the end is irritating and underlines the fact that this is not so much documentary work as fashion photography in a new location. However, the book will be interesting to photographers and, perhaps, anthropologists.
Kathleen Collins, New York Transit Museum Archives, Brooklyn
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Portrait and glamour photographer Ritts, whose Notorious (1992) set a new limit on book size, weighs in with another whopper. Africa has a focus, even an austerity, that makes it quite different from that earlier collection of celebrity portraits. To be sure, Ritts brings his trademark sensuality and stylized elegance to each image, so much so that the Masai he photographed look like stills from a carefully scripted music video (or, creepily, like outtakes from Leni Reifenstahl's Nuba project). Ritts presents the elegance of the dark-skinned Masai in alternation with generally rougher images of African wildlife. Intense close-ups abound, and we never get a real sense of place or real-life activity. Nevertheless, the book as a whole has undeniable aesthetic integrity, despite the fact that it is a wildly ahistorical album that revives troubling old National Geographic stereotypes. Yet that fact doesn't seem to bother prominent African American dancer Judith Jamison, who wrote the appreciative preface. Gretchen Garner

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: Bulfinch (November 22, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821221213
• ISBN-13: 978-0821221211
• Product Dimensions: 14.3 x 12.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #491,786 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Artists, A-Z > ( P-R ) > Ritts, Herb
  #52 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Travel > Africa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars it's creative and beautiful. . . .give Herb a break!, December 15, 2001

By	Rick Robinson (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

its a sensual and magical collection of photos. they are beautifully shot, creatively composed, and wonderfully printed. no, it does not tell the whole story of a vast continent--but don't require it to! this isn't photojournalism, and isn't trying to be.
it is a powerful view of a particular landscape (kenya) and certain individuals of the maasai. you've never seen nakedness look so natural on someone--a wonderful reflection on being human, rather than any comment on race or tribe. lighten up, and let yourself enjoy it!

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most evocative African photography I've ever seen, December 1, 1997

By A Customer

I've been to East and southern Africa many times and love the wildlife and admire the people, both of whom I photograph a lot. I have purchased many books of photography of Africa, but none as stunning as this one. The black and white adds a new dimension and the juxtaposition of people and animals is smashing and intriguing. This is the only book of African photography that I actually felt compelled to pay full price for in a regular bookstore- -- and did!!! That is my most enthusiastic endorsement!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Judge it for what it is, not what you thought it should be!, September 16, 2004

By	ChicagoLarry - See all my reviews

Read the reviews trashing this book and you will see they are not based on how well this book accomplishes what it purports to do, but on a distaste for stereotyping all of Africa with the tribal images presented. But unless this book claims to depict all of Africa--which it doesn't--that complaint is entirely another subject. I suppose a title of, say, "Tribal Africa" might be more descriptive than just "Africa," but surely we are all smarter than that. The book is obviously about the one slice of Africa it depicts.

Those who for some reason are embarrassed by tribal Africa (apparently it's the nudity) don't seem to want anybody else to see any pictures of it, no matter how well done the presentation. It is as if they feel some kind of personal shame. But why?

Even one of the editorial reviews takes a jab, in an otherwise glowing review, saying: "...despite the fact that it is a wildly ahistorical album that revives troubling old National Geographic stereotypes." In other words, presumably, even though it depicts nudity. But how is that "wildly ahistorical"? What is "troubling" about the old N.G. photos? In spite of modernity's fast encroachment, vast areas of tribal life do still exist in Africa (I go there, I see it); so one has to ask those who get so embarrassed, is it okay to photograph with style anything else in the world, or any other people in the world, except Africans?

Beautiful books exist on American Indian culture today, and there are "glamorous" books on cowboys of the past; but no one would suggest these stereotype all Americans as Indians or cowboys. So why do people do it with books on Africa, even to the point of saying they are a lie? It's crazy!

As a photographer and a collector of coffee-table books on Africa, I value--not denigrate--this book by the late, great Herb Ritts for the very fact that it is different. And it is the best I've seen in the style Ritts chose. The pictures are not only extra large, but in high resolution with great clarity--some are just plain breathtaking. Personally, I'd have preferred the book to stick with either people or animals (people!), but the land is shared by both, and maybe that was a point Ritts intended to make. I'm shorting the book one star because I thought the composition and subject matter of the animal pictures didn't always match the high quality and wonderful composition of the people pictures (one of which now hangs on my wall after I purchased a second copy of the book for that purpose). No doubt the animal subjects were more difficult to manage!