The images in Black Bodies are unlike any other depiction of black female sexuality. Whereas traditional photographs of women’s bodies seem to reduce their subjects to cartoonish pin-ups, Allen’s models seem to be in full possession of the camera. Their bodies as well as their personalities seem to radiate from the page. The result is a book of serious erotic art that engages its viewers on multiple levels.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Black Bodies applauds the black woman for the 'freedom' she personifies. There are no ornate props--just natural, raw beauty." -- Clarence Reynolds, Black issues Book Review, July-August 2002
From the Publisher
Jules Allen’s photographs are remarkable for their very raw and very real sense of beauty. Black Bodies is a photographic book of black women’s bodies—not as film, television, or music videos would have us imagine them, but presented with grace, wit, and erotic power. Black Bodies has the potential to add another dimension to the American definition of beauty.
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More About the Author
Allen's work, over four decades as a photographer, expresses the essential truth that a culture's power is clearest when presented on its own terms and thus, evocative of the contemporary black experience. His images place subjects, drawn from the richness of black life, within universal paradigms. Jules Allen, is known by friends and colleagues as having a keen eye for the obvious.
Born in San Francisco, CA in 1947, Allen attended California State University, where he took his first formal photography class, studying with Jack Welpott, a well known, "west coast" portrait and landscape photographer, student and protégé of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. Allen obtained a B.A. in Fine Arts in 1973 and M.S. in Clinical Counseling Psychology in 1975, the latter was a conscious choice to facilitate the understanding of human behavior.
Working as a New York commercial photographer in editorial, advertising and entertainment, Allen actively pursued the development of a personal vision. Early influences in photography for Allen were Edward Weston, Cartier Bresson and Robert Frank, as well as Roy deCarava, with whom he studied at Hunter College and obtained a Masters in Fine Arts in 1985.
The recipient of numerous grants and awards, Allen has been widely exhibited in the U.S. and abroad. His photographs are included in museums and private collections worldwide, inclusive of the Museum of Modern Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian, the National Gallery, the Schomburg Center for Culture & Research and others.
Mr. Allen currently lives and works in New York as a photographer and a professor in the Department of Art and Design at Queensborough College and in the October 2011, his third book, "Double Up," a pictorial study of pugilistic life in New York City's famous Gleason's Gym, will be released.
More of Allen's work can be viewed a http://www.julesallenphotography.com.
Born in San Francisco, CA in 1947, Allen attended California State University, where he took his first formal photography class, studying with Jack Welpott, a well known, "west coast" portrait and landscape photographer, student and protégé of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. Allen obtained a B.A. in Fine Arts in 1973 and M.S. in Clinical Counseling Psychology in 1975, the latter was a conscious choice to facilitate the understanding of human behavior.
Working as a New York commercial photographer in editorial, advertising and entertainment, Allen actively pursued the development of a personal vision. Early influences in photography for Allen were Edward Weston, Cartier Bresson and Robert Frank, as well as Roy deCarava, with whom he studied at Hunter College and obtained a Masters in Fine Arts in 1985.
The recipient of numerous grants and awards, Allen has been widely exhibited in the U.S. and abroad. His photographs are included in museums and private collections worldwide, inclusive of the Museum of Modern Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian, the National Gallery, the Schomburg Center for Culture & Research and others.
Mr. Allen currently lives and works in New York as a photographer and a professor in the Department of Art and Design at Queensborough College and in the October 2011, his third book, "Double Up," a pictorial study of pugilistic life in New York City's famous Gleason's Gym, will be released.
More of Allen's work can be viewed a http://www.julesallenphotography.com.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not good.,
By Cappy "cappyjones" (APO, AP USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Black Bodies (Paperback)
I found that this book wasnt that great. Far too many of the photos are silhouettes or very shadowy and not in an artistic way. I bought this book at the same time I bought Beautiful: Nudes by Marc Baptiste and in comparison, it made this book look even worse. If you want a great book with photos of beautiful(artistic, not smutty) naked women, go with Beautiful: Nudes instead.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pure black art,
By
This review is from: Black Bodies (Paperback)
The images presented here by Mr. Allen represent an insightful and imaginative celebration of the black female form. Mr. Allen Photos are clean, honest, unadorned and subtly sensuous. The endless variety of textures, tones and forms of the black female body are creatively presented through the eye of a true craftsman. In this offering it is the art.... not the nudity that is most compelling. I'm looking forward to more of Mr. Allen's work.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Black bodies radiating heat,
By wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Black Bodies (Paperback)
One wonderful thing about human variety is that it brings so many different faces and figures to the word "beauty." Allen devotes this book to one range of that beauty, the one dominated by its African heritage. Even that, as these photos show, covers a fair range in itself.Many of these photos focus on the hair, the curves, the lovely faces, and other features that distinguish black beauty from the other kinds. The net effect, to my eye, does not set black beauty apart. Instead, these photos display the beauty common to women everywhere, with a few genetic highlights to remind the viewer just varied that can be. This brings an enjoyable and welcome complement to collections that often under-represent this branch of the human family. -- wiredweird
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