Forms of Desire [Hardcover]

Doris Kloster (Author, Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

In Forms of Desire, Doris Kloster, the only prominent female photographer to do significant work in the world of fetishism in art, pointedly explores female sexuality in all of its various guises. Without relying on shocking images or campy send-ups, the photographs in this collection examine the often overlooked, intimate ways in which desire and fantasy interact in female sexuality. Each image seduces the viewer, and the collection firmly places Kloster at the top of her field.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Beside Frulein Kloster, Madonna seems like the girl next door." -David Rimanelli, HARPER'S BAZAAR

"Kloster captures the kink, camp, and sensuality of the S/M scene in a way that would make Helmut Newton blush." --Nora Burns, PAPER magazine

"In FORMS OF DESIRE, Kloster refines her vision of the erotic and invites us to stroll through a gallery dedicated to female beauty and fantasy. Each photo is a little world which invites the viewer to enter and take (or receive) appropriate action." -Pat Califia, from the Foreword

About the Author

Artist and alternative journalist Doris Kloster received a B.A. in Art History from Boston University and an M.A. in Studio Art from New York University. A freelance photographer, she has shot editorial features, advertising, record albums, and book covers in London, Paris, Milan, and New York City. Kloster is cofounder and editorial director of FAD magazine. She has curated and her work has been featured in numerous art gallery exhibitions in the United States and Europe and collected in one previous book, DORIS KLOSTER (Taschen). She teaches photography at the New School for Social Research in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 105 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312194145
• ISBN-13: 978-0312194147
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,579,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book changed how I think about erotica!, January 9, 2003

By 

WitchGrrl (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forms of Desire (Paperback)

My best friend gave me a copy of this book, and I thought, "Hmmm." I've never before found visual erotica that I truly enjoyed. As a kinky feminist, most of the naughty images I've been exposed to that turn me on sexually have also turned me off politically. Not true of this work! There are few artists in this world who aren't afraid to step outside the boundaries of the expected, and Kloster is one of them. It was lovely to encounter images of women of different shapes, sizes, and ethnicities in porn. It was even better to see work that doesn't use the same five shots over and over again. You know what I'm talking about, right? Open a man's porn magazine. We have the blond, large-chested, woman with a vapid smile on her face wearing a sexy outfit, then topless, then nude, then masturbating, then a close-up of the genitals. Boring! Kloster isn't afraid to be different, and it shows.
Always before with porn, I felt that the male gaze was part of the picture. It was as much a part of the creation of the image as the lighting or makeup, and I didn't like it. I've often had the feeling that women portrayed in erotica were putting on shows for men, rather than just enjoying themselves. It's something in their body language. A certain degree of self-consciousness, perhaps? For whatever reason, that phenomenon was missing from this artwork. The women seemed natural, comfortable, at ease, and it deeply enhanced my enjoyment of the work. (Maybe porn made by women really is different!)
I would also recommend this book as artwork, besides just being sexy. Kloster's sense of style and photographic composition is very much in evidence, and she's definitely avant-garde, willing to toy with our expectations.
I never knew that I could enjoy visual erotica. Now that I know that work this wonderful exists, I'm on a hunt for more!

5.0 out of 5 stars a truly great book by a wonderful artist, February 9, 2004

By 

A. Dan "simoril" (israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Forms of Desire (Hardcover)

doris kloster's one of the most interesting personas and artist in the erotic photograpy fild, her on going dialog with porn, art and the femal body contininues in this book. it's very hard to explain a photo, but hers are cold, stylish inoveting and proffessional enough to be both highly artistic and very sexualy arousing as well.

the book itself showes a large number of very well printed black and white photos, with a beautiful cover, the images runs from very explicit nudes to insinuated sexual mathaphors, it's great both as a sex book and as an art book.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How to explore your desire, April 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Forms of Desire (Hardcover)

Kloster in "Forms of Desire" give us all the beauty and sensuality of Fetichism. Divided by themes, all different forms of love and sense are represented by situations where the woman is the focus. She uses black and white photos to increase our fantasy. All the forms of desire are allowed and Kloster show us a range of them bringing to the reader the choice.