Jock Sturges: Radiant Identities [Paperback]

Jock Sturges (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2005

The latest collection by the controversial photographer, Jock Sturges, who was cleared of pornography charges by the U.S. government. Black-and-white images capture the form of adolescent bodies and the closeness of mothers and daughters, primarily at nude beaches in France and California. An introduction and afterward comment on the process of photographing young people and the place of Sturges's work in modern photography.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Of course there's the curiosity. What do I look like? Sometimes disappointment, sometimes pleasure. But it's not just about me: Jock makes the whole world look remarkable--like heaven. He lets me see my own world in a new way."--the voice of one of Sturges's subjects, from Elizabeth Beverly's introduction

"[Sturges's] gelatin silver prints luxuriate in textures of sand, flesh, cloth, tide pools and gentle waves. . . . superbly printed, expressive in their modulations of light and joyful tonalities . . . the high mark of Sturges's work is its naturalness, its gentle attentions to the pleasure that can be found in life."--The Boston Globe

" . . . Sturges's people are grave, well-formed, and poetic. Best to think of his world as an inviting fiction: one phtographer's Eden, where a little knowledge doesn't get you expelled from the garden."--People magazine

About the Author

Jock Sturges received a B.A. in Perceptual Psychology and Photography from Marlboro College in Vermont and an M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute. He has exhibited widely in the United States as well as in France and Japan. His photographs are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

Elizabeth Beverly's ethnographic fieldwork focuses on women's culture among the Mandinko of rural Senegal. Her articles, essays, and reviews have appeared in Ethos, Soundings, and Commonweal. She is the author of the play Kindred Minds.

A.D. Coleman is the author of The Grotesque in Photography, Light Readings, and two collections of essays: Depth of Field and Critical Focus. His columns appear regularly in Photo Metro, Juliet Art Magazine (Italy), and European Photography (Germany).

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Aperture (June 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0893816493
• ISBN-13: 978-0893816490
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #745,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What photography is supposed to be., May 23, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Jock Sturges: Radiant Identities (Paperback)

These are wonderful, sensitive pictures. All of them document the human figure (both male and female) in many of its ages. It's a topic that can never get old, not as long as the viewer is human too.

Normally, I don't have strong response to photography as art. At first, I simply enjoyed the peaceful scenes and happy people that Sturges portrays. Many of his subject are young people, though, and my mind drifted back to myself at their age. Somehow, it all came rushing back to me: that sense of mystery and awe, about fifth grade, when I first started seeing the girls around me becoming young women. Sturges has a unique talent for showing the steps between child and adult with respect and innocence. I was not prepared for the evoked memory of myself at that innocent age.

This book collects some of the most beautiful figure studies I've ever seen. I truly hope that you can appreciate it the way it was mean to be seen.

52 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Great Portrait Photographers, August 14, 2003

By 

Timothy Haugh (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Radiant Identities: Photographs by Jock Sturges (Hardcover)

Of the visual arts, I probably enjoy photography more than any. In particular, I love portraiture, which is probably why I like photographers like Jock Sturges and Mary Ellen Mark who excel at this. They are invariably able to find interesting subjects and to photograph them in unique and beautiful ways. I am also fond of the black and white format usually used by Sturges and Mark which keeps the focus on the figures themselves as opposed to something garish they are wearing or the color of their surroundings.

With the photographs in Radiant Identities Sturges seems to be experimenting. Many of my favorite themes in Sturges' work are here. He has "family groups"--sisters, brothers, parents & children. My favorites of these are the "generational" pictures: where we see a child and an adult who mirror each other as if we are seeing the future of the child. But there are also some pictures here that have no similarity with any of his other work. There are surprises.

Of course, Sturges photographs mainly nudes and is probably best known for the controversy surrounding his nude photographs of young girls. There is no denying the erotic power of some of his pictures but Sturges is no pornographer. He is able to capture so much more. The arrangement of the figures tells us something (as in the "generational" pictures) and I am often surprised at how drawn I am to the eyes of his models and to the careful arrangement of the hair. He is an artist of uncommon skill and I would highly recommend this book.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Rare, Perfect Work, March 8, 2003

By 

Photopro "Mike" (purcellville, va United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Radiant Identities: Photographs by Jock Sturges (Hardcover)

This book is beautiful. All the works are done very well, showing the beauty of youth and family. I was first drawn to Sturges work after looking at photos of David Hamilton. His work is very contoversial. but I ask why? Is a picture of a 13 year old girl shaving her legs in the shower so terrible? The thing is, thats these photos are not about viewing young nude girls reaching puberty, but showing the beautiful changes that we have all gone though in life, men or woman. The people that bash Sturges work are not looking at the photographs close enough. If they did, they would realize that thoughout his albums, the photographs are of adolecents becoming adults. You will find the same model at the beginning of the book at age 8, and by the end of the book there are photos of her at age 16. Get my point. Also I feel that there is a very strong feeling of family bonding in the work of Sturges. So many of his pictures are of families on the beach and other places. Most of them in the nude. And I think that he wants to show how close these families are. Most teens would freak if their parents saw them naked, but here we see how secure, happy, and close these families are with earch other. This is not trash, this is work that very very few people can do. Sturges is very classy about his work. No open legs (if so, it is not staged at all), and with his 8x10 camera, is also able to get beautiful wide angle shots that show more than a nude boy girl or family, but the beautiful beaches and skies that surround them. Don't miss and of Sturges work. Its not worth missing. Open your mind to all forms of art. Get this book. You will rush to by the rest of his works including (the last day of summer, self-titled, and new work)