Donna Ferrato: Love And Lust [Hardcover]

Donna Ferrato (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2005

From the award-winning photographer of Aperture's seminal Living with the Enemy, now in its fourth printing, comes Donna Ferrato's second book, Love and Lust, a provocative look at human intimacy. In this work Ferrato turns her eye on the theme of love in its many facets, from the emotional bond of a boy and his dog, to full-blooded orgies and other lusty behavior. Ferrato is never heavy-handed or sensational. Rather, there is always the sense that she is winking at the viewer, encouraging a relaxed acceptance of all the positive expressions of human feeling.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"To document a place is one thing, but how do you document a human emotion? Donna Ferrato makes a valiant effort with her new book, Love & Lust... With an autobiographical introduction and intimate images from her own life interspersed, this small but rich book is a personal collection of images of sensuality... Whatever your boundaries, Love & Lust is a courageous and refreshing affirmation of love, sexual and otherwise. Ferrato is only trying to tell us it's all good. It's hard to argue with that." --Photo District News

"Love and Lust is a chronicle of the multitudinous forms of physicality those two words have inspired in the modern world, from orgies to more discreet signs of endearment. The book is less a documentary than an unflinching autobiography." -- American Photo

"Her physical proximity to the subjects creates a genuine feeling of intimacy, which permeates her entire body of work and highlights love's common experience across conflicting social mores. Throughout--whether violent, broken, transgressive, base, ephemeral, elated, quotidian, or eternal--love is present, and Ferrato sees in it, beauty. Without moralizing or patronizing, Ferrato successfully reveals love, in its varied manifestations, as something shared and familiar, ever in motion, and ever reborn." --Photo-Eye

About the Author

Donna Ferrato has won numerous awards for her work: the Crystal Eagle Award for Courage in Journalism from the International Women’s Media Foundation; the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Humanistic Photography; and the W. Eugene Smith Grant for Humanistic Photography. Her photographs have been widely published.

She is currently working on a television show about love and sex for women.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Aperture (June 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931788332
• ISBN-13: 978-1931788335
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #974,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love And Lust, Donna Ferrato, May 24, 2004

By 

J. Geoffrey Jones "J.Geoffrey Jones" (Nashville, Tenn.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Donna Ferrato: Love And Lust (Hardcover)

In perusing the remarkable new book of photographs,"Love and Lust", I was reminded of two great literary artists. Thoreau and Whitman. When Whitman wrote his poem " Beginners" he was thinking of such creators. " How dear and dreadful they are to the earth." Thoreau in one of his little known journal passages mused on what it would be like for groups of young people to make love in the open fields.It would be a beautiful and natural sight, he thought.This creative approach to sensuality is typical of great minds. Such forerunners, " Shake things up" and move humanity forward.Donna is well known for her book on domestic violence " Living With The Enemy" She is fully as candid in her depiction of the largeness of our emotions in the areas of love and sexuality as she has been in the world of violence and abuse."Love and Lust" chronicles over twenty years of her photographic studies of sensuality and affection.She moves from the center of family life,as Nell Dorr did, into the greater world.It is a paradox that we humans are often more afraid to explore our love feelings than our violence.Donna dedicates her book to " The 'Bonobo monkeys'they have something to teach the more advanced primates about "Making love, not war" The poetic eye of this photographer caresses ,with childlike candor, the objects chosen for attention.Her vision has the variety of a kaleidoscopic circus dream of Ray Bradbury. There is much shock value as well.The book is not for the squeamish. The Bizarre is shown beside the everyday.She juxtaposes gay and straight young and old, nuns and ghetto people, swingers,rich, poor and middle class.All those playing at the myriad games of sex.This is an all encompassing vision.In so many ways we reach out for the love and pleasure we seek. Often it appears in forms we might never have expected, but those forms may prove non-the-less valid.Study this book carefully. It is a work of art even to the binding, which has the feel of pliant skin. "He who touches this book , touches a man.." Whitman said of "Leaves of Grass" We are touched by an incredibly honest woman,in this book.Her art and bravery deserve laurels.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love and Lust, June 9, 2004

By 

"klovell16" (Santa Fe, NM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Donna Ferrato: Love And Lust (Hardcover)

Long awaited, this provocative monograph -- Ferrato's second book from Aperture -- presents an exploration of love in all of its physical manifestations. Her optimistic and penetrating gaze finds love in all the right (and gorgeously wrong) places -- "from puppy love to orgasm, from a peck on the cheek between friends to sexual role-playing to S&M." Her physical proximity to the subjects creates a genuine feeling of intimacy, which permeates her entire body of work and highlights love's common experience across conflicting social mores. Throughout -- whether violent, broken, transgressive, base, ephemeral, elated, quotidian, or eternal -- love is present, and Ferrato sees in it, beauty. Without moralizing or patronizing, Ferrato successfully reveals love, in its varied manifestations, as something shared and familiar, ever in motion and ever reborn.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Real People Having Erotic Fun, January 14, 2009

By 

CRAIG LYKINS "Craig" (Alabama) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Donna Ferrato: Love And Lust (Hardcover)

I am no stranger to the erotic photography book market. I tend to favor fine-art titles, so this book is off-key to my mainstream collection. It takes a very special book to move me into the 4 or 5 star range. If you are looking for outstanding photography, creative composition, stunning models in stunning places - this is not your book. This is journalistic style photography. If you are looking for a diverse collection of photos exploring the open lifestyle, you will enjoy it.

I would say 80% of the photos are in black and white.
This is not a large format book. And some of the photos are not full page. Some of the 4" x 6" photos I would have liked to have seen larger. There are about 19 pages of narrative at the beginning of the book, documenting the author's 30 year's of exploits as a photographer.

All in all, I would say looking at the book is like peeking over your wild neighbor's fence and through their windows. It's worth a look, but I don't see myself coming back to revisit this book time and time again. If you want a book that "proves" ordinary people do some wild and crazy stuff, you found it.