Koto Bolofo: Venus Williams (Hardcover)

~ Koto Bolofo (Author, Photographer), Patrick Remy (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

With a power serve of 129 miles per hour and countless titles to her name (including number one in the world), Venus Williams is an amazing force in the world of tennis. She stands 6'1" and possesses great reach, or "wingspan," and a rare mental tenacity that has put many, many trophies on her mantelpiece. It was thanks to Williams' tireless campaigning that the bizarre sexist tradition of awarding a smaller prize money to female tennis players was corrected, at least at Wimbledon and the French Open. (Amusingly, Williams herself became the first beneficiary of this amendment when she won Wimbledon in June, 2007.) Williams' ascent to fame has been meteoric from the first. At her Grand Slam debut at the 1997 French Open, she reached the final, and although she did not win that match, her world ranking shot up from 66 to 25 in one day. By 1999, she was number three, and by 2000 she had won a gold medal for the U.S. at the Olympics--the first of two, thus far. This sense of un-stoppability has always characterized Venus Williams, and makes her gripping to watch. Now the British fashion photographer Koto Bolofo has caught some of her magic on camera, in ways that have never been seen before. Granted unrivalled access to the athlete, during both her public tournaments and many private moments, Bolofo offers here a monumental portrait of one of today's greatest athletes.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 100 pages
• Publisher: Steidl (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3865216021
• ISBN-13: 978-3865216021
• Product Dimensions: 14.8 x 11.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #432,639 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All brains, heart, cheekbones, muscle and love., August 9, 2008

By	Pharoah S. Wail (Inner Space) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Going beyond "sports action" or "celebrity glamour" photography, this is a book that will appeal to many fans of Venus and/or photography. Koto captures Venus as a whole person (both real and imagined) rather than just a celebrity sports figure or Hardbodied Goddess. The photos are in both color and b&w but mainly b&w. Sometimes she is a mythical 1920's athlete. Other times a streetwise soccer goddess or simply Venus. Funny, goofy, sexy, statuesque Venus.

Many of the pictures exude strength. I don't mean muscle or athleticism. I mean inner human Power for Good. Venus is a magical presence. Beyond hearing/seeing her give interviews on some serious topics myself, if you've ever heard Mary Carillo talk about the speech Venus gave in 2006 I believe it was, it sounds like it was something very special. On the surface the speech was about equal prize money at Wimbledon but I suspect in reality it was for and about women everywhere, and being tired of being asked to wait a little bit longer. It's not universally true (like WNBA and NBA for instance), but if you think about tennis of the past 10 or 15 years, more people know more of the women's names than they do the men's. At this point the women put nearly as many or more rear ends in seats as do the men. The respect and money should be equal.

I've heard Mary and I think it was Billie Jean King say they think Venus is why Wimbledon leveled the paying field. Whatever Venus said in that room was undeniable. She's also one of the rare American-born-and-raised world class athletes who can do interviews in multiple languages, and has been praised by people in the press as being one of the smartest and most intellectually curious world class athletes they've met.

This is the strength in many of these pictures. She seems to inhabit the space of women far removed from her own life. For the most part, women do the work of the world but they make less and eat last. There are pictures in here where Venus says it with her eyes.

Now I have to say it. Oh my god her cheekbones! If you hadn't noticed yet, she has one of the greatest skulls of all time. I have no other way to say it.

I love that the book has no captions, no "Venus is wearing...". This book isn't a hybrid travel guide, fashionista cross-marketing LOGOs all in your face book. It's the Venus tennis star we know, as well as a Venus in and out of some sort of dreamworld that I suspect was partly Koto's and partly hers. When she is gone from tennis and from life, this book will only grow in stature as a tribute to this woman who has meant so much to so many people.

On the quirky side of things, my binding is backwards. If you see me looking at the pictures in my book you'll be wondering why I am enjoying this big, sturdy, finely crafted book upside down. I haven't seen it in any store yet so I don't know if every book in this 1st edition is like this or if it's just mine. Either way I dig it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing and Beautiful!, August 21, 2008

By	L. E. Davis "Diplomacy In My Own Name" (OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I got this book with only a hint of what was to come. I enjoyed this thoroughly. The images are really outstanding and if you've got an inkling of tennis history and what Wimbledon means to Venus Williams then I think you'll love the Wimbledon section. Koto had an interesting take on Venus and on the surrounding things he shot and I think they fit in quite nicely. I only had one regret and that was that he had only followed her in 2005 and nothing further. I'd love to see another collaboration between these two, maybe even incorporating her sister Serena, or her whole family while Venus is at Grand slams. This was awesome work and you will really see Venus in a different more feminine role. Thanks so much for making such a great book for Venus Williams fans.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost there, May 16, 2009

By	Jay Gregory (Leesburg, VA) - See all my reviews

Photographer Koto Bolofo's collection of photography on tennis star and professional athlete Venus Williams is a big, beautiful book. I took time to study each image but overall I was left wanting -- for more photos of Venus! She is featured in artful poses AND there are images of courts, fans, tennis balls... I believe there are more sides to this amazing young woman that should have been included. However, it is still worth adding to a photography collection whether you are a fan/supporter of Venus or not.