Customer Reviews

Chambre Close

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

 

 

I was in Amsterdam recently, and searched for a book of nude and erotic photographs of beautiful and elegant European women, with a correspondingly pleasing text. This book is a delight from cover to cover; the pictures have a slightly amateurish, perverse quality that makes them even more real; the text is sexy and teasing without sleaze, cliches or misogyny. The work shows a fascinating relationship between photographer and subject, where every model is a unique erotic being, and you can feel the photographers obsession with capturing their images. Fun, classy, sexy and surprising, a worthy member of any photgraphy book collection.

I've searched bookstores for creative compilations of nudes with limited success. With size comes diversity, and Chambre Close is an example of the range of products you can find at an on-line bookstore. Unfortunately, Rheims and Bramley's compilation illustrates the lower end of the spectrum.

The book is nice enough at first glance... the images are clear and different enough from the stock, headless abstract black and white nudes that are so common. They quickly become tiring, however, with stilted composition, overly simplistic lighting and a kind of bland consistency that makes them easily forgetable. After one pass (and skimming some of the text previously noted as bland) I knew this book was heading back to the retailer for a refund.

It isn't that the book is of low quality. Rather, there is just so much more creative and interesting material available (of better quality) at the same price. Adding this book to your collection is like padding a composition with text. While technically sound it is superfluous and detracts from nudes as a genre.

I have been a fan of Ms. Rheims practically from my first exposure to her work & when this book came out, it strengthened my convictions of her vision. Since then, I have continually reveled in her approach to portraiture w/ this book, in the fact that Ms. Rheims is able to capture a sense of intimacy w/ her subjects usually reserved for one's lover(s) & Mr. Bramley's prose if wistful, Romantic & bittersweet.