Customer Reviews

Black Ladies

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the book that established Uwe Ommer as a master of the nude in color. The photos are fantastically lit with a beautiful natural romantic lighting that yields deeply saturated colors, yet fantastically beautiful skin tones. It is rare to see such beautiful skin tones in photos!

The images are at the same time very erotic and very tasteful. The women are just gorgeous, and the naturalness of their poses and expressions draws the viewer in to the photos.

If you appriciate nudes this is a must have. If you are bored by the typical color nudes you see in the mass media, such as Playboy, you will probably find this book refreshing.

If you appriciate the beauty of black women and long for images that show extreamly attractive exotic black women, you will enjoy this book.

If you do not appricate the beauty of black women, you may completely change your mind after looking through this book.

I am a student of photography and enjoy glamor and portraiture best of all. When I started thumbing through Black Ladies in a local bookstore recently, I could not put the book down. The models photographed had a look in their eyes that spoke of joy and innocence. Some photographs were more "serious" and had a deep soulful yearning that is seldom seen in any publication.

One of the most impressive aspects of the photographs was the use colors that contrasted the skin tone of the models. Accessories such as scarves, beads, shawls and sarongs were of deep reds, rich blues and bright yellows and greens. The back drops played off of these colors and provide a rich tapestry of texture and color to each image. The poses, providing the form, and the expressions, the beauty that makes this collection of photographs irresistable.

Although the book features nude models, nudity is a secondary element, with breasts, shoulders and hands providing form and subtleties of color, shadow and detail. What is most captivating are the expressions of optimism and openness. Expressions seldom seen in black America.

As a collection of photographs celebrating the beauty of black women and Africa, Black Ladies is hard to resist. What is missing though, is the technical information on creating these beautiful images. The texture, detail and color rendition raises questions for photographers, both amature and professional, about camera format, film stock and lighting.

The photographs are so captivating that one has to stop to think about how they were (or might have been) created. Many are shot outdoors, but some are obviously shot in a studio with what appears to be artificial lighting.

I would rather have the technical information than the spoken words of Calixthe Beyala. The images speak for themselves. If only Uwe Ommer had collaborated with Michael Busselle ("Better Picture Guide to Photographing People") or included a section with technical details, Black Ladies would have been a complete body of work for all.

As a woman of African descent, I was thrilled when I saw the pocket sized version of Uwe Ommer's "Black Ladies" on a weekend visit with my girlfriend. Upon returning to NY, I immediately began searching for a full size copy for my home. The photography was breathtaking. I was flattered, because I saw reflections of myself and my sister-friends the way I see us: graceful, sexy, luscious, strong, lithe, dark and lovely. Everyone who comes to my home is immediately drawn to the book and leaves vowing to purchase a copy of their own. Don't listen to the negative criticisms. This is a purchase worth making if you love nudes and you love black beauty. Definately buy it!

Uwe Ommer's Black Ladies is an elegant collection of African and African diaspora women(at least, there is one photo of supermodel, Roshumba Russell) which represents an aesthetic salute to black beauty that U.S. culture seems unable to produce. Ommer published an earlier version of BL in the 1980s, and his book was featured in a 1986 edition of Zoom, the photography magazine. This new version is apparently not identical to the 1980s version, but it is equally rich. Ummer's African women are natural beauties wrapped-and-then-unwrapped quite wonderfully in an African context, reflecting the photographer's obvious passion for Africa. Those who share his vision will agree that the beauty of African women, far from being the secondary aesthetic as it is portrayed in the U.S.A., is second to none.

It is delightful to see a collection that concentrates on the beauty unique to black women. The individual photos are lovely, but the collection as a whole is striking in the variety that it presents. "Black" coloring covers a wide range of skin tones, represented reasonably well here. The women's faces are simply amazing, however. There is endless variety in their shapes and proportions, far more than in collections of European models. Each woamn's face is unique and appealing, but the range of different faces struck me again and again.

The models all appear to be young adults - like so many other collections of figure photos, more mature beauty isn't given its due. Also, the large majority of photos are half- or three-quarter length portraits. The upper body is well represented, but the models' hips and legs are commonly left out. That decision dropped a huge number of opportunities to show the grace and strength of the whole figure, and left me slightly disappointed.

But only slightly. This is a lovely tribute to dark-skinned beauty, and to many of the faces it wears.

//wiredweird

The Black Woman is one of the most beautiful and alluring of the world's women. This collection is a celebration of that beauty.

...of one of the most beautiful women in the world: Black women.

Ommer captures their eyes and smiles. The voluptuousness of their inspiring figures.

I'm a white man who has always had a weakness for black women. This book is a beauty.

This collection is a must for anyone who appreciates the beauty of women of African descent. The photos burst with color, and are so crisp you'd swear the subject is only inches away. Well, one can dream I suppose. Although I don't particularly care for poetry, there is an abundance scattered throughout the book.

The thing that makes this book so unique is the emphasis on the counteneances of the models involved -- the face of each lady is given at least as much emphasis as the rest of her body. This makes the photos seem like pictures of individuals and not a mere cattle call like so many other erotic/semi-erotic photo essays seem to degenerate into. The gaze that the models wear is one of the most important components of the book. One wonders what the individuals are thinking when looking at them, and the gazes are such that they cannot be readily avoided. You will not find any of those "come get me" looks common to the models in most men's magazines which seem to portray the ladies as being halfway to orgasm. The typical objectification of the female form so common in nude photos is noticeably (and thankfully) absent here. Also the feeling that these models are "posing" is usually absent (except in a few photos); they seem to be caught in a natural setting and the nudity here seems as natural as can be (perhaps the ideal that nudists hope for) -- this is all a tribute to Ommer's artistry. The photographs in this book are sometimes slightly erotic, but the word that comes to my mind in describing them is "sensual" -- the nudes are done tastefully, so one is not left with the feeling that one is looking at some sort of disguised soft porn -- the models seem perfectly comfortable and natural and do not seem to be ashamed of their bodies, but one is not given the sense that they are flaunting them either. Sexuality is not ignored, but is not brazen . . . it is incorporated into the general poise of the individual concerned . . . not being the sole or most important thing, but not submerged and hidden in shame or coyness either. There are no pictures that depict the ladies here in degrading acts or in "exposed" fashion -- the genitals are never exposed and the nudes do not seem violated in any way by the interest of the onlooker -- they retain their dignity and humanity throughout the book. This is one of the closest attempts to put poetry to colour in the form of photographs. The one big minus here is that the ladies all seem to a certain degree to be exeplifiers of the traditional European beauty ethic . . . whereas all the ladies here are "black", and naturally most have the typical Africanesque features . . . prominent lips, wide nasal ridge, and so on . . . all of them are relatively thin. This is unfortunate, because there are parts of Africa in which very large women are considered very erotic . . . much more so than those with very thin and petite body types. Also, all of the ladies featured in this book seem to be under 35 or so, even though it is well known that older women can also be very beautiful, especially considering the fact that the countenances play such an important role in this book. Not perfect, but very close.

Every men who loves black ladies have to buy this book. Beautiful pictures of black ladies are rare. So this book is your chance.