Jock Sturges: Notes [Hardcover]

Jock Sturges (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2005

Description: Jock Sturges: Notes gives fans of his unforgettable images a glimpse behind the scenes of his working process, opening up his studio and notes to the viewer for the very first time. A selection of preparatory studies, shot as Polaroids, accompanies the finished works included here--offering visual testimony to the complex process and inspiration that underlies each of the gorgeous images his audience has come to love and admire.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...the thematic thread of this volume--understatedly titled Notes, despite its careful cohesion--puts the emphasis on family. From his Polaroids of siblings at play to his multigenerational group portraits shot on 8X10, Sturges's images bask in the warmth and empathy of relatives who love each other." -- Jack Crager --American Photo

"Over the past decade, Jock Sturges has produced an incomparable body of work that revels in the beauty of the human form and celebrates the naturist spirit." --HotShoe International

"Families, in all their varying shapes and forms, are the subject of Jock Sturges' Notes. Mothers and daughters, and husbands and wives, are captured by the noted photographer, often pictures daringly nude, in moments of insular or mutual reflection, or bathed in golden sunlight." --Harpers & Queen

"Jock Sturges loves the way kids inhabit their bodies. At their purest, he says, they are free of shame, lighthearted, their eye contact direct. Physically, they are perfect, both erotic and sexless in their androgyny with an unquestionable air of innocence. The fifty-seven-year-old fine art photographer calls this pre-pubescent age 'quixotic.' And no one captures it with such honesty and brilliance quite like he does." -- Rebecca Klein --Picture Magazine

About the Author

Jock Sturges received a BA in Perceptual Psychology and Photography from Marlboro College, and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. His published collections include The Last Day of Summer (Aperture, 1991), Radiant Identities (Aperture, 1994), Jock Sturges (1996), and Jock Sturges: New Work, 1997-2000 (2000).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Aperture; 2nd edition (June 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931788472
• ISBN-13: 978-1931788472
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great background, some newer works, October 21, 2004

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Reader B "avid reader" (Plymouth Meeting, PA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Jock Sturges: Notes (Hardcover)

For those who are simply wanting a collection of large Sturges photographs, this will not fill the bill. For those who are interested in Jock Sturges, the person, and some background on his models this is the one to get. You get some background into his process and how he goes about his work. There is a collection of Polaroid shots he uses in formulating his approach to the picture. You are then treated to a wonderful selection of B&W images, most taken in 2003 with a few from 2000 and 2001. Several of the pictures have comments by the model. For several of his models, there is an update of their lives as they were photographed as they grew older. There is reference to the sheer work involved in processing and printing his photographs, but I felt it was greatly understated; dealing with an 8 x 10 negative format camera and film is not a trivial task, but the results are fantastic. Nor is getting the lighting just right on the beaches easy, but the use of light and shadow in his prints shows he makes it look easy. The latter part of the book touches upon his newer work in fashion photography. Misty Dawn nee Johnson has quite a few pages to express her thoughts on her long association with Jock. The dimensions of the book are not large, but it is put out by Aperture, which stands for high quality in printing works of photography.

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Digression, December 19, 2004

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Timothy Haugh (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jock Sturges: Notes (Hardcover)

This book is quite different from any book of Sturges' I've seen before. At first the main thing to notice is that it is smaller in size and shorter on complete images. But it seems that Sturges is trying to create a more intimate feel in this book and, in that, he succeeds. Because his purpose in this book is more than presenting his photographs.

The title of this book is Notes for a reason. In it, we find considerably more text than we usually do in a Sturges book and it is not confined to forewords and afterwards. There are, in fact, "notes" interspersed throughout the photographs. Many of the notes are by Sturges himself though there are a number by his models. The point of these (as well as a number of Polaroid photos) is to give us some insight into how Sturges works, how he develops his concepts and final images. And they do do that to some extent though, if the truth be told, the workings of composing a beautiful portrait remains a mystery. Still, it's an interesting attempt.

On the other hand, I found the notes by the models quite interesting. Many of the models have worked with Sturges for over 20 years and have grown up with him as part of their lives. The word "family" is used a number of times. This may or may not be true but it is intriguing to hear the different voices of the models in their prose. When they talk about the photos in which they appear, it often gives the impression of those photos speaking in a new voice. It gives these portraits a different flavor.

But I am ignoring the fact that this book is also, if not mainly, a book of photography. To be honest, I would have bought this book for the photo on the cover alone. Fortunately, there is more of Sturges' wonderful portrait work on the inside. His themes and the beauty of his work continue to interest me. I have been a fan of Sturges' work for nearly 20 years now and this book is a wonderful digression, especially for fans. I wouldn't send a newcomer to this book first, but it certainly has its place in Sturges' body of work.

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication'...da Vinci, September 24, 2004

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"knumonic" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jock Sturges: Notes (Hardcover)

Photographer Jock Sturges and publishing house/gallery Aperture have collaborated again [The Last Day of Summer 1993, Radiant Identities 1995] to bring us this fabulous new book 'Notes'. Here, as with the previous titles, Sturges' work is beautifully reproduced, 50 single black and white page, one single colour page, the cover photograph and numerous other colour polaroid and digital images scattered throughout the book. But for the first time in addition to the work we are given a glimpse, through statements and comments made by Jock and his subjects, into the working process and to the effect that being photographed by Jock has on the people that appear in his work. These commentaries are rich and rewarding. They open the door a little wider and more light comes flooding out. I have been collecting Jock's photographs and books for over a decade but I think that this book brings me closer to the experience of 'being there' than any of the other, Aperture, Scalo or Gakken titles. Except for one beautiful image of Celie from 1999 all of the work represented in this volume covers the period 2000-2003. Other 'fans' and collectors might be disappointed to find that there are only three images of Misty Dawn and only one of Fanny. Perhaps with the publication of this book Sturges and Aperture are marking the start of a new chapter in the development of the photographers' career. The reproductions themselves are richer and closer to the luxurient tones of the original prints. The binding is very nice too, no dust sleeve just a print directly onto the hard cover. The technicians and printers at Aperture have done a really good job.
Jock's world is the world of the naturist, those people who feel relaxed and comfortable being naked in situations where other people might feel shy or embarressed. Michelangelo wrote 'What spirit is so empty and blind that it cannot recognise the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe and the skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed.' Jock Sturges seems to be dedicating his life to proving this point and I think that he succeeds, radiantly. The people in his pictures are truely full of grace. And his pictures are a testament to their pure, calm, accepting way of life. These photographs are life affirming images created with love, affection and respect. They prove that Leonardo Da Vinci was right when he said that 'simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.'