Customer Reviews

The Chop Suey Club

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an astonishingly beautiful collection of images by a very gifted photographer who presents his subject with great sensitivity and warmth, as well as with a fair amount of humor and love. The artist reveals more about himself than his subject, allowing the viewer to feel and to be touched by his intensely personal obsession with this beautiful young man. The only complaints I have about the book are, first, its relatively small size, which isn't a problem except when larger photographs are spread across two pages, which I feel compromises the impact of the image, and second, the pages are not numbered, making it difficult to connect a given photograph with its description. Otherwise, it is a beautifully-made book, with both black and white and color images rendered in magnificent quality.

I love Bruce Weber's latest book with the exciting sexy photos of my now favorite model Peter Johnson. He is the most photogenic person I have seen in a while. I was thrilled to discover another photobook that was released at the same time as "the Chop Suey Club" called "The Class of Click" featuring Peter Johnson again. This book represents the hottest fashion model of the agency Click in a highschool yearbook format. Needless to say that Peter takes on different roles in that hyperreal set highschool and looks amazing. It's all about Peter Johnson.

'A unique album of photographs featuring Peter Johnson, an athlete Weber discovered on location at a wrestling camp in Iowa. Taken over four consecutive years, the photographs show the evolution from adolescence to manhood, as Johnson is seen in various states of dress and undress, in diverse locations around the world. The Chop Suey Club is not easily classified, but it is Weber at his classical, obsessive best - a must have for all fans of his work.'

This was the first Bruce Weber book i bought & i was very pleased. In The Chop Suey Club, Weber chronicles the growth of young wrestler Peter Johnson for 3+ years as a late teenager. Bruce has a great eye for spotting beautiful men and his 3 year photologue, The Chop Suey Club, demonstrates this well. Weber captures Peter's beauty in everything from a speedo to exotic dress clothes and various states of dress & undress in between. Weber uses a wide range of poses and ideas in these photos with his usual emphasis on the erotic. Several poems, still-life shots, & photos of nature are also included in The Chop Suey Club, but the emphasis is on young Peter Johnson. The book is in a smaller format than most Weber books, but it is thicker & has more photos than most of his other books. Weber also uses color photos much more so than in his other books. The Chop Suey Club is the kind of photography book you page through slowly when you first get it & you then later refer back to again and again. I like this Weber book the best & i recommend it to those who appreciate male beauty & fine photography, especially when viewed through Bruce Weber's lens.

Although this book will add nothing to the evolution or intellectual dimensions of fine art photography, it is nonetheless Weber at his inimitable best. I am constantly amazed that Weber, a maverick in the world of advertising, can convince his young male subjects (who more often than not claim to be heterosexual) to remove their clothes and portray very homoerotic situations and poses. This young man, for example, makes a point of stating hisheterosexuality. But the photographs taken of him suggest something altogether different. Maybe it's the allure of the camera, and ultimately the fame it conveys.

This book presents Bruce Webers latest collection of photographs mostly of a young man he met while shooting at a wrestling camp. Taken over a series of years, the photographs evolve in scope and involvement as the subject ages and grows more comfortable with the camera. It is a fascinating study of not only a young man coming of age, but of a photographers relationship with one subject over a period of time. The books compact size is an interesting twist, in that often times books of this nature are quite large. The smaller size gives it a feel of a private journal rather than a glossy coffee table book. Excellent!

Wow. For those who enjoy black and white photography at its best. This man knows how to get inside of his subjects and print their souls like no other.

No one captures the male form better than Bruce Weber. Unfortunately, Bruce's pricy coffe table book has little more to offer than the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog. The small size of the book along with its limited nude photos make it a tepid work of erotic photography at best. Out of an estimated 150 photos only about 6 show the subject nude. Sure the subject is hot and the photographs are beautiful, but you can find similar ones from Weber in periodicals.

Finally Bruce Weber has assembled a collection which is heartfelt, sincere and passionate. If you skip a few vulgar nudes, most of these portraits are outstanding and lively. They key of this success relies on the intimacy and passion that every photo reveals. Each photo is a tassel in a perfect yet articulate mosaic that goes from fashion to portrait, into documentary. Both a document and an act of love that spans across five years. Not only the work is honest but it's technically far superior to any of his previous collections. By far his best collection and a must for every fashion photography lover. Well done!

Happy now also to be the owner of this great photo book together with the other book "Bear Pond" by Bruce Weber.
The Chop Suey Club book is very inspiringly for any photographer and it is a GREAT pleasure to see how Bruce, as always, catch the beauty of male body mixed together with a lot of humour in his photos.
When you see photos by Bruce you are never in doubt... why is that ??? Coz he is able to catch so many emotional moments in life and after finishing the book you feel you have been on a emotional journey with yourself that you wouldn't wish to be without !. The Chop Suey Club book will always be timeless and worth buying !!! A. Hinerasky Copenhagen Denmark