Amazon.com Review
Anton Corbijn has "a reluctance to impose" on his subjects that they admire, "a way of making you feel that you wouldn't mind experimentally making an arse of yourself--because he doesn't either," says Brian Eno, whose eerie portrait is one of the more arresting images in this collection of Corbijn's work. There are some powerful photographs here--Sinead O'Connor, David Byrne, William S. Burroughs--that stand as testament to the portraitist's talents. His use of color is beautifully surreal, but most of his pictures are black and white. Some are decidedly unflattering: Johnny Cash looks like a cadaver, Neil Young like an ex-con who could use a kind word. Some are playful, such as those of Mick Jagger cavorting in a pair of masks. The majority of Corbijn's photographs are raw and unsettling; few are possible to ignore.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Exemplifying the blurring of lines between photojournalism, advertising, and art, these four collections of celebrity portraiture are less a record of high aesthetic achievement and more time capsules of the last decade's pop-culture infatuations. Observed side-by-side, the books highlight the photographers' individual styles and their strengths and weaknesses. Ritts's ability to capture his famous sitters' personalities at the height of expression reveal a self-consciousness in Corbijn's brooding, grainy portraits. But Ritts's Westonesque attempts at freezing the body as sculpture can seem pretentious next to LaChapelle's giddy, campy celebrations. Harkening back to the Hollywood photography of George Hurrell, Gorman's works stand apart for their simple elegance. The Gorman, LaChapelle, and Ritts books are all oversized and lavishly produced?perhaps a drawback, as the box LaChapelle is shipped in will be immediately discarded and the many fold-outs in Ritts will undoubtedly tear. Ultimately, these volumes will be of most interest to fans of the sitters. Art libraries should have the Ritts book?the official catalog of a controversial Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, retrospective?and the LaChapelle, whose vividly colorful works express the most individual style, if not depth. Public libraries that already have Ritts's last collection (Notorious, Bulfinch, 1992) can pass over this familiar work in favor of Gorman's genial portraits of today's stars.?Eric Bryant, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
