Familiar Men: A Book of Nudes [Paperback]

Laurie Toby Edison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0974334308 | ISBN-13: 978-0974334301

In general, if we see male nudes at all in this culture, we see only the most muscular and buffed of the weight-lifting culture. To counter these limited images, internationally exhibited photographer Laurie Toby Edison provides this suite of nude photographs of a wide variety of men. The men represent a huge variety in age, race, ethnicity, body type, social class, and level of physical ability. The men photographed include college professors, rock musicians, aerospace and warehouse workers, computer consultants, retired businessmen, dancers, disability activists, museum directors, and tattoo artists. The text, by Debbie Notkin and Richard F. Dutcher, features a long essay, "To Be a Man," as well as an assortment of quotations on masculinity from models and others.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Edison's work is unique in focusing on the nude without eroticizing it." -- Tee Corinne, After-Image

"Healthy male self-imagery? In a photo book? There's a switch. A good one." -- Dave Ford, San Francisco Chronicle, September 24, 2003

"Her subjects aren't supermen, but Edison delivers photos that are at once affirming and lovely." -- San Francisco Weekly, November 2003

"Laurie Toby Edison’s work is unique in focusing on the nude without eroticizing it." -- Tee Corinne, Afterimages

"Sublime black-and-white essays on the beauty of the human body ... a protest against preconceived images of beauty." -- Mary Gallant, Asahi Evening News, Tokyo

"There is beauty aplenty to behold in the honesty of these bodies." -- Jaime Cortez, SoMARTs Gallery show, June 2002

A photo collection that seems straightforward but eventually challenges your beliefs about what it means to be a man. -- Ruth Percey, N Magazine, November 2003

Healthy male self-imagery? In a photo book? There's a switch. A good one. -- Dave Ford, San Francisco Chronicle, September 19, 2003

Laurie Toby Edison is the only photographer in America whose lovely and subtle work focuses on the non-erotic nude. -- Tee Corinne, AfterImage

From the Publisher

In a wholly original photo study of the wide variety of nude male bodies, photographer Laurie Toby Edison turns her photographic insight on the disturbing conviction of the vast majority of American men: "I did not get to be the man I was supposed to be." This conviction, of course, affects not only men, but the women who care for men and the children who are raised by men. In short, these photographs speak to everyone. As Susan Faludi's best-selling STIFFED: THE BETRAYAL OF THE AMERICAN MAN went beyond the conventional social assumptions about men, Edison's nude portraits go beyond the extremely narrow slice of male nudity and semi-nudity available in popular culture. These photographs speak to men's understanding of themselves and each other, as well as social understanding of men in general. These expectations directly affect men's actions and interactions with friends, family, and society.In a wholly original photo study of the wide variety of nude male bodies, photographer Laurie Toby Edison turns her photographic insight on the disturbing conviction of the vast majority of American men: "I did not get to be the man I was supposed to be." This conviction, of course, affects not only men, but the women who care for men and the children who are raised by men. In short, these photographs speak to everyone. As Susan Faludi's best-selling Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man went beyond the conventional social assumptions about men, Edison's nude portraits go beyond the extremely narrow slice of male nudity and semi-nudity available in popular culture. These photographs speak to men's understanding of themselves and each other, as well as social understanding of men in general. These expectations directly affect men's actions and interactions with friends, family, and society.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Shifting Focus Press (September 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974334308
• ISBN-13: 978-0974334301
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,572,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting acquainted with Familiar Men, December 1, 2003

By 

Marina Wolf (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Familiar Men: A Book of Nudes (Paperback)

Familiar Men takes on unfamiliar subject matter: nude males. In Western visual art, women have long gotten the nude treatment, thoroughly and repeatedly. In recent times female nudes are even becoming slightly more diverse in their appearance (Edison contributed greatly to this diversification in her other book of photo portraits, Women en Large). But men are less frequent subjects of photography, and nude men even less so. Mostly what's out there from a photo-visual perspective are chiseled youth with disaffected eyes modeling underwear--almost nudes who are barely there.

This paucity of portraiture is rightly addressed in Familiar Men. Not only do the men represent a wide range of ages, races, sizes, and abilities, but their gazes show you clearly that these men are not objects, but subjects. They know what they are doing. They thought about revealing themselves for the camera, with all of its inherent risks, and went for it.

This book is a proud, strong presentation of male vulnerability, and the black-and-white photography is beautiful itself. I'm a big fan of art as a medium for social change, and this is a wonderful addition to discussions around masculinity, beauty, and the human form.

Real men pose nude.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Honesty not hype, November 23, 2003

By 

Phaeton (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Familiar Men: A Book of Nudes (Paperback)

For anyone who is lucky enough to have seen "Women En Large", also by Laurie, this book is equally sumptuous andrefreshing.And though the subject this time is the male nude, the treatment is just as direct and honest and loving, and also as polished and serene as before. However, in "Familiar Men" we can see the artist maturing. The photographs are studies in delicacy and intimacy: these are not jarring images by the likes of Jan Saudek, out to shock his audience and make a name for himself on the rebound. It seems to me that Laurie uses the nude to elicit the simplicity and honesty and humilityof the human being, something she can only achieve by stripping off all the covers and camouflage we clothe ourselves with to conceal the fact that we are all vulnerable and frail. And in her nudes it is refreshing to see the quiet
pride in ourselves that can come through when there is an excellent rapport between artist and subject, where neither is trying to sell each other or their audience a bill of goods so uncomfortably prevalent these days as we drown in a sea of hype. Nothing like that here. No pretense. Nothing phony. A soothing visual and psychological delight.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My guy friends can relate, October 19, 2005

By 

Tracy Schmidt (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Familiar Men: A Book of Nudes (Paperback)

I have this book in my stack of books on the coffee table in my living room, where my guests wait while I'm putting the finishing touches on dinner. It always ends up at the top of the pile somehow, and it's usually the guys who check it out first. The photos are simply gorgeous, so I'm sure that has something to do with it. But my straight male friends tell me how rare and cool it is to find a thoughtful piece on what it's like to be a man in our world, or to see things that reflect their experiences, and I think that's why people I know have liked the book. It's unusual. It's beautiful in a way that is comfortable and thought-provoking at once, in my opinion. Anyway, I love it, and some of the men in my life will be getting it for Xmas this year.