Customer Reviews

David Hamilton: Twenty Five Years of an Artist

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After hearing about the controversy over David Hamilton's subject matter, I decided to purchase this book. I was a little nervous about owning this, not desiring to be a 'felon' or incurring the wrath of Big (overbearing) Brother.

When I opened the cover and turned the pages, my nervousness changed into respect. I find it ludicrous that such a book could in any way be considered "pornographic", let alone be considered to contain child pornography.

As an artist, I believe Mr. Hamilton has captured what he perceives to be the beauty in this world. He certainly shares it with a passion evidenced through his work. Whether it is the young nudes, stills, or landscapes, Mr. Hamilton presents his passions in a positive, tasteful manner. I am starting to believe that those who find fault with his art work need to re-evaluate their position. That is my, entitled, opinion, as those who find fault are entitled to theirs.

Thanks to Amazon.com for offering such a wonderful work of art, akin, in my mind, to the work of Ansel Adams, at an extremely attractive price. I will purchase other titles by David Hamilton. If you like photographic art, I would highly recommend this book.

I have to admit, I have rotten timing. I had just bought an autographed, first-edition copy of this book directly from the author for $200.00 when I found out that Twenty-five Years Of An Artist would be published a second time, and at a much lower price. C'est la vie. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to give a review of the book. In a word, it is magnificent. No matter what you think of David Hamilton insofar as to his photographing nude girls who are under the age of 18, one has to admit he may be the greatest photographer of the 20th Century. The photos are all exquisite, especially the landscapes. I have to agree with my fellow Marylander who stated that the picture on page 152, entitled "County Cork Ireland, 1971" is worth the price of this book alone. Of course, I am biased; I have been to Ireland and am half Irish. I know the incredible beauty of the Emerald Isle, and hold it dear to my heart. But I digress. The overall theme of this tome, inasmuch as there is one, is that we need to take time out occasionally from our workadays to discover the truly beautiful things in life. David has done that for us over the past three decades, and his pictures of stunningly beautiful young girls, of seascapes, of mountainsides, and of Venitian waterways take us away to places most us, unfortunately, can only dream about. To peruse this book is to look through a window upon our fondest dream: Living a life of cultivated leisure. I wish I could visit all the places and meet all the girls that David has photographed during his career, but even if I had the means to do so, I probably would never find the time. That is because I am stuck, like so many others in the Western World, in a "nine-to-five" sort of life. Thankfully, I can take a little bit of time and see what I am missing, instead of just thinking about it. People who take offense at the pictures of nude "underage" girls are understandably concerned about the effect this has on potential pedophiles in society. One only nee! ds to look at the countries where this book is the most popular: France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden. None of those countries have a problem with child molestation/pedophilia anywhere approaching that of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand or Canada, apart from Quebec(maybe it has something to do with the English language-yikes!). People need to see past the nudity, and see this book as a whole: A presentation of the good life as seen by one who has lived it to the fullest extent: David Hamilton. Thank you, Mr. Hamilton, and thanks to Aurum for printing this second edition, made affordable to all. This is a book to be treasured by one and all forevermore.

This book is a masterpiece! Everything about it is just plain beautiful. I can't believe that Hamilton ever had problems with these incredible pictures that he has taken. And that takes us back to what is art? and what is pornography? It seems that in this country, people tend to believe that if a girl is under the age of 18 and nude, it is pornography. Hamilton has proved them wrong. If it is legal for familys, which do in a lot of cases include young girls and teenage girls, to go to nudist colonies or be naturists, where they are nude three fourths of the time, why is it not right for someone to capture this beautiful lifestyle on film?

The female body, at any age is a very beautiful thing, and not many people will let themselves admit this. I find it especially beautiful when the girls are at the brink of womanhood, and there bodies are changing. Why is it so hard to find this stunning for people???

You will find portraits of everything in this book, from swimming, to sleeping, to just plain stand up posing for the camera. Also, this book includes other works of Hamilton. Works like nature etc.

In one word, this book is Beautiful, and so is Hamilton, for doing something that very few people can do. That is to realize that there is natural beauty in everyone, and he photographed it.

This is 'THE' Hamilton book to own! I have never seen anything so beautiful and classical as this before. Hamilton is a true master artist and this book shows the depths to which he explores his art. As one other reader said, when you see the pages of this book unfold before you, you feel as if you are entering a classical landscape of beauty and enchantment. The subject matter (young girls) is a heated topic, however the way Hamilton photographs each subject is a tribute to the eye of a master. There is nothing obscene or pornographic in the pages of this book. This is pure and innocent beauty from a period in life where everything is confusing and magical. The goal of any great photographer should be to show us the world we don't see, to show us what we have all around us but never stop to notice. Hamilton is a great photographer and his landscapes and nudes show us the erotic and mystical in our world.

Buy this book. It is worth every penny.

Okay, so this book contains pictures of girls under 18 in the nude. Try to look at the bigger picture. That would be all that is beautiful in our world, and David hamilton has tried to fit as much as he can in one place. Many before him have tried, none have succeeded as he has. the pictures of countrysides, seascapes and Italian villas all join together with the aforemetioned images to create a perfect symmetry of beauty. This book is well worth its price, and then some.

The book has photos spanning David Hamilton's career as well as a bit of an auto-biographical essay of his life and how he got into photographing beautiful young models.

The pictures include nude models as well as subjects like flowers, landscapes, and personal photos.

My complaints about the book is that the pictures are usually too small to be appreciated and the quality of the post-production is not top class. Though there are many nice photos, it does not justify the work of the photographer.

Nonetheless Hamilton's books are hard to find and always go out of print. Overall, it is worth buying.

A year ago, I had never heard of David Hamilton. Then I saw his book, "A Place In The Sun", in a Maryland bookstore. I fell in love immediately with his soft-focus style, not to mention his subjects, which include seascapes, mountains, and beautiful girls. This book, now in its second printing, is a retrospective ranging from the years 1967-92. The one difference here as opposed to "A Place In The Sun" is that there are more black and white pictures, which apparently Mr. Hamilton is very fond of. It is unfortunate that people here in America, as well as Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have such a problem with his photographing nude girls, because this book proves that those pictures are part of a much bigger picture. This book has got to be one of the finest collections of art available anywhere, and it would be wise for anyone interested in this style of photography to buy this book now, because it will sell out very quickly....the first edition's 55,000 copies sold out in less than a year from its 1992 publication. Also, this would make a good companion to "A World Of Beauty", Mr. Hamilton's next (and apparently last) book. Get this book now. The picture entitled "County Cork, Ireland 1971" on page 152 is worth the price of the book alone. And speaking of prices, this book is being offered at one that I would consider dirt-cheap, for a photography book that is over 300 pages. Anyone who passes this up will later regret it. This is a desert island must-have. Congratulations to Mr. Hamilton on twenty-five (actually now thirty) years of success, and many thanks to Amazon for offering this book.

There are a lot of books that contain nude artfull pictures of girls by several top photographers available to choose from. But if you had to choose only ONE to own, this would definitely be the book to buy!Because:(1) VALUE: This book has TRIPLE the pages and photographs of the other books for only about 10-15 dollars more. So thus you get a tremendous page-per-dollar value!(2) QUALITY: Many of the pictures are in color. Most of the other books only have black and white pictures. The pictures are very sharp and very high in quality..they leap off the page! (3) COMMENTARY: Aside from the great pictures, this book also contains several pages of a very informational introduction and commentary. It is nice to read some narration to put the subject matter and pictures in proper perspective.(4) BEAUTIFULL: The girls are very cute and beautifull. A wide age range is represented from 8-18. Even the pictures of the girls clothed are stunning, sexy, and beautifull. The nude girls are very tastefully presented as to not offend or risk censorship. This book used to be banned in some countries, and I think it still is banned in some areas of the world. I have seen this book priced in the hundreds of dollars when it first went out of print years ago.What more can i possibly say about this book? You get the most bang for the buck...you get top quality color and black and white pictures of very fine cute sexy beautifull girls 8-18 posing nude and semi-nude....and most important of all BUY THIS BOOK BEFORE IT GOES OUT OF PRINT! I have noticed that several books by Jock Sturges and David Hamilton are no longer either offered in Hard Cover edition or NOT AT ALL! Censorship control is placing pressure on book suppliers I guess, so quickly BUY THIS BOOK!

I bought the book, "The Age of Innocence", and was impressed with his work, although, it's subject matter made it something to put in the bookcase, rather than on the coffee table. That book, though certainly controversial, was without arguement within the US law. Though there are many "fanatics" whom might rant and rave otherwise, "The Age of Innocence" contains NO child pornography, as defined by the law. It instead is a beautiful, gentle, visual record of the physical beauty of young girls on the verge of womanhood. I then bought his next release, "A Place in the Sun", and was even more impressed! Whereas "The Age of Innocence" focused entirely on nudes, "A Place in the Sun" focuses on beauty of nature in the tropics... The land, sea, plants, animals, and girls that exist there. "A Place in the Sun" IS a breathtaking coffee table book, and, in my opinion, establishes Mr. Hamilton as perhaps THE most talented artistic photographer in the world.

This new release, "25 years of an Artist". however, may have crossed the legal line, and certainly has damaged the image of "innocent artistic work" his supporters have argued so strongly to establish as fact. The photographic work is absolutely fantastic. There are some of his best nudes in this book. But, several pictures seem to cross the legal line (by US standards) of being pornographic, albeit "soft-porn", but porn nonetheless. And being that his subjects are adolescent girls, some of the pictures may be, by US legal definition, child pornography. As I understand it, the legal definition of "porn" vs "art" involves depictions of sexual activity, or displaying the genital region in a sexually suggestive manner. There are pictures of young girls touching each other in a suggestive manner, girls whom appear to be masturbating, and visuals of very young girls wearing thigh-high stockings and opening their legs in a suggestive manner. And, the documentary photos and text in the rear of the book taken "on the set" seem to suggest a very hedonistic environment surrounding Mr. Hamilton and his very young models. The "Innocence" of the prior books seems to have been a facade, and one is left with an impression that Mr. Hamilton leads a "Hugh Hefner" type of existence surrounded by these girls, many of whom are are still children. I would not be suprised to see legal action brought against the publisher in this case.

I still gave the book 5 stars as this is a very well done book, and there are many, many stunningly beautiful photographs within. Plus, if the book should later become banned, it may well become a collectors item... On the other hand, it may also become a felony to possess it.

If you don't own a David Hamilton book, you must at least buy this one. Not that you shouldn't have others, you should. But this is the finest collection I have seen. His dreamy style is unmistakable, whether it be his landscapes or portraits of young girls. Another must have in my opinion.