H2O [Hardcover]

Howard Schatz (Author), Beverly Ornstein (Editor), Owen Edwards (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 2007

Acclaimed photographer Howard Schatz broke new ground in the 1990s with his books WATER DANCE and POOL LIGHT, two collections of luminous photographs of dancers, some clothed and some nude, all taken underwater. His underwater photography has been called uncanny, lithe and athletic, exquisitely real, and mysterious, and has been widely imitated in art and advertising. The dancers seem to transcend time and space to become floating, ethereal objects. Schatz's new underwater photographs are shot in a state-of-the-art, custom-built pool fitted with studio lights and covered with a giant dome to regulate temperature. The results are stunning. His unique images---at once lyrical, fantastic, and palpably real---express the beauty of inspired movement magically free of the restrictions of gravity.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Howard Schatz lives in New York with his wife and business partner, Beverly Ornstein. His work has been exhibited in museums and photography galleries internationally and has been published in numerous magazines as well as in fifteen books of photography including the critically acclaimed ATHLETE, BOTANICA, and IN CHARACTER: ACTORS ACTING. Owen Edwards has written about photography for 30 years, for American Photographer, New York Times Magazine, New York, The Village Voice, Saturday Review, Vogue, Smithsonian, and many other publications.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Bulfinch; First Edition edition (November 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316117757
• ISBN-13: 978-0316117753
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 1 x 13.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,561 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #56 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Lighting

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wet and wild, January 12, 2008

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: H2O (Hardcover)

For all its variety, this collection has one underlying theme: water. The most dramatic photos in the collection are like the cover shot, dancers floating underwater. The amazing results shown here come from an equally amazing adventure in developing the techniques for taking these pictures.

In most of the photos, the artist and model both release their breath underwater until the air in their lungs no longer floats them to the surface. Then, the model is free to pose in ways that would be impossible in air. The model need not worry about balance or support against gravity, true. The water has subtler effects on the figure, too - for example, breasts float, giving them higher, rounder forms than gravity normally allows. Schatz's one zoftig model, Alexandra Beller, has the curves to show that effect in the most striking way. And, as the cover shows, hair and gauzy drapes can reach a flowing lightness that just isn't possible elsewhere.

Schatz found that dancers, and very few others, could work as his models. For one thing, they had the muscle knowledge and physical skill to use weightlessness effectively - after all, hadn't so many dancers been trying for that all along? For another, most women naturally bob to the top of pool. Dancers and other athletes typically have more lean mass, so can reach netural buoyancy much more easily.

Although the free-floating forms caught my attention most firmly, Schatz uses water on other ways, too. Its reflective surface, whether seen from above or below, creates baffling mirror-pairs of arms or legs that pierce that surface. Underwater bubbles or above-water droplets adorn the models, and bubble-trails create unearthly auras. Then to push his imagery even farther from the world of gravity, Schatz somtimes rotates or inverts his photos. In a few, the model faces her rippled reflection in the water's surface - but the image is turned so the surface of the pool appears to be a vertical plane.

It's a stunning collection, and not just because of the gorgeous figure studies. Schatz has done something truly new: he has freed the figure from gravity, and in doing so he has changed the shape of the figure itself.

-- wiredweird

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent and unique photography, November 5, 2007

By 

Ray Sullivan (Greensboro NC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: H2O (Hardcover)

Howard Schatz' creation is indeed a work of art. If you appreciate creative photography and the human form you will marvel at the detail in creating this masterful collection of underwater ballerinas and professional performers. Nuances of color, shape, shadow in conjunction with the dynamics of fluid motion are brought to life in this unusual and breathtaking book. The images are large and the models are credible artists in themselves. Each page is breathtaking and speaks volumes for the painstaking skills of the authors.I have not seen any of his other photographic compendiums but this is one book I will savor and review again and again. Add this to your collection right away.
Amateur photographer

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A DreamWorld!, November 29, 2007

By 

Michelle7 "Editor of Michelle7(dot)com" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: H2O (Hardcover)

H2O exemplifies a master artisan working at the height of his powers. Howard Schatz showcases once again his unparalleled genius in capturing the elegance of the human form. And short of attending Cirque du Soleil tripping on peyote, this work is unlike anything you'll ever experience again. It's one of those rare publications that literally transport the viewer into another realm; a dreamworld where beautiful, swanlike models float like angels in a surreal water ballet. Where reality is twisted into some sort of magical, impressionistic state of being. Refracted light, color, even the airy magnificence of water bubbles all go into engineering each impossibly delicate image.

It's no secret nor a coincidence that Schatz uses professional dancers, ballerinas, and athletes to populate his underwater stage - few others could so gracefully perform the unimaginably beautiful feats that construct this work.