Customer Reviews

Jazz Age Beauties: The Lost Collection of Ziegfeld Photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a longtime admirer of early celebrity portraiture, this book brings to light the works of a nearly forgotten master. Although I own over 40 books and numerous original images covering photography of 1890s-1930s, I have seen very few of the images in this book reproduced elsewhere. The text is accurate enough to give one a sense of the historical background in which Johnson worked, with one very minor error regarding Theda Bara and Bill Tilden. However, the text is brief and the book is just loaded with wonderfully reproduced images of stunningly beautiful women. Many are clothed as Ziegfeld Showgirls, the predecessors to today's Vegas Showgirls. Some images are of early film actresses. All are captured in Johnson's signature style which certainly influenced Clarence Sinclair Bull, George Hurrell, Harriet Ruth Louise, and other great movie studio photographers. If you appreciate early 20th Century photography, early film and American Theater of the period, you will love this book. And if you just like to admire beautiful natural beauty (not surgically enhanced), this is the book for you.

As one who enjoys movies from the 30's, this book helped me to enter the world of early Ziegfeld and movie beauties and their way of life. Of the photographic books I have, this one has to rank at the top. The first 62 pages (and few at the end of the book) contain text with photographs. Photo collections with text usually bore me, but this one was so interesting with details of the stories behind the women and that era, that I was dissapointed when the text ended. I have one other photo book containing women of the 20's but the photography, poses, and beauty of the women in this book surpasses the other book by a long shot. The strict physical characteristics that Ziegfeld had for his women are evident in this collection. Included in this collection is Miss Universe from 1926. I wondered to myself if they stripped her of her crown for posing nude? This book also provides excellent examples of the use of lines when posing the female subject. The book refers to it as the "Line of Beauty". If one enjoys the history and images of that era, this is a must have book that won't dissapoint. A superbly bound hardbook with mainly full page images of excellent quality.
My one sad point of the book was to learn that there are boxes full of more of Johnston's images that someone is holding on to with plans to sell individually and deny the world to see them as a collection.

I purchased Jazz Age Beauties for the beautiful photographs. Alfred Cheney Johnston brought an aristocratic air to classically posed black and white nudes. The photographs from the 1920s illustrate that beauty is timeless. However, as I read through the text, I gained an insight of life passing from youthful beauty to adulthood and often the troubles that followed. The text brought the photos to life. More than just a book of excellent photographs, Jazz Age Beauties offers the reader a glimpse into another time, not unlike our own.

This is a delightful book for any photographer or photo enthusiast as it showcases the feminine mystique so eloquently captured by Alfred Cheney Johnston, but my one quip about this book is that some of the images have obviously been re-sized for print. There are not many of them, but as a photographer, I was horrified to see distorted pixelated photos of what could have been some very beautiful pieces. Perhaps this was an oversight by the author, but if you're going to make a book about photography, at least be aware of the aesthetic and final product as a whole

Not only does this book contain some of the most stunning photography from the jazz age but is also full of wonderful stories about some of the people pictured. I've been studying the 1920s for years now and some of this information came as a delightful surprise. This is a treasure from anyone who loves great history and fine art.

I'm a photographer and also a big jazz fan, so when I saw this title it caught my attention. I found it to be an interesting mixture of text, photography and history. I'm a big fan of vintage photography and often buy quality images and negatives at garage sales and flea markets whenever I can find them. I'm always amused by what was once considered daring, and risqué' and always interested in seeing the vintage clothing styles and backgrounds including the furnishings and automobiles as well as the subject of each image.

By any measure Alfred Johnston was a great photographer, and in my view one lucky man. Firstly his images all give the models dignity, grace, and pose, and the nudes are done with exceptional taste. Image if you can being a photographer during that era and also being lucky enough to have access to a pool of models that included the stars, both real and wannabes, as well as the Ziegfield Girls! But Johnston does much more than just shoot pretty faces and bodies. The care given to each pose, especially the attention given the eyes and face, the makeup, the props, they're all first rate. All the images, especially the nudes speak volumes about this photographer's passion for producing quality images.

From a technical perspective, it's easy to pick at some of the work. Some of the lighting and shadows, and the extensive use of soft focus might give some a reason to critize. But there was no "Photoshop" software to edit these images; in fact the technology of photography was very crude by today's standards.

This is a first rate collection of vintage photos and the carefully written text makes it a great book for anyone with a serious interest in photography or the history of the craft.

Obviously a wonderful collection of images with historical and insightful text accompanying. Nonetheless, as a photographer, I was moderately disappointed with the manner in which the images were presented. The images are all presented in a sepia tone which I doubt is true for all of the originals. More concerning, however, is that most of the images lack the sharpness and fine detail which was undoubtedly present in many of the originals. While one reviewer compliments the "soft focus" techniques, I have seen several of the images before in very sharp focus with fabulous detail. To soften any of the images for publication for any reason betrays the brilliance which Alfred Cheney Johnston displayed in creating the images. It is still a wonderful collection.

I was as horried as the other reviewer who pointed out that some pictures have obviously been resized digitally and they present severe pixelization that you would only find in third-rate fan websites!
I believe this is truly inexcusable. Even kids these days know how to resize pictures! For a price tag of 40 USD and a book of this mid-size this is unbelievable.
If I want to look at pictures of this quality I can do it from the comfort of my chair in front of a pc. This low quality really detracts from the subject and art that is the subject of the book. It's a book about pictures, it's not like they are just secondary.
After seeing these awful prints, I was so distracted trying to see what other pictures had this problem, maybe less than some, but it surely took away the enjoyment of looking at the pictures.
Also, the only fact I could directly dismiss is that there is a picture of Barbara Stanwyck and the caption says that after her stint in the business of these shows she made [and they mention two titles of movies in the 30s] before starring in the tv show The Big Valley! So if someone doesn't know that Miss Stanwyck is an Academy Award winner who has starred in first-rate features throughout the 30s, 40s and 50s and beyond, they would be lead to believe that she was just a dancer?
I don't think something like this should be dismissed as being picky, who knows what else is being incorrectly formulated in this book.
For books on subjects like these, where research is hard and there aren't many sources, at least get your facts right before you publish them, there are already enough people who are rewriting history because they don't know any better.

This book was amazing! I enjoyed looking at all the wonderful and beautiful pictures. Mr. Johnson had a real talent in bringing out true mystery and beauty in these women. At the time these were considered "racy" if only those critics could see what pictures are like today! I wish we had more photographers like this now, a little mystery is always better than the whole package in my opinion. The eyes are drawn to the lighting, the props and back drops, jewelry dangling, the scarfs seductively placed just right. A true work of art. Also interesting were the side stories about the women and their lives. Often tragic, some surprising but always interesting! I was thrilled to find how many pictures were included so many that I had not seen before. It is a great read for anyone facinated with the era.

They just don't make 'em like they used to. So many beauties, all beautiful for different reasons.