L'Amour: French Glamour Girls: Retro Nudes [Paperback]

Makoto Orui (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2000

The photographs published in the countless independent nude magazines of France of the '50s and '60s have been collected here by the author, Makoto Orui. These precious photos have earned with high reputation. Radical and madern in their day, these nudes possess a simulating eroticism even now, but with a retro charm. The back covers become a pin-up poster. English & Japanese language.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Makoto Orui is a renowned art director and freelance editor of Japanese art magazines, including V and Rocking On. He is also the director of The Deep art gallery in Tokyo.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Graphic-Sha Publishing; First Edition edition (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4766111338
• ISBN-13: 978-4766111330
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,576,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars not what i expected, December 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: L'Amour: French Glamour Girls: Retro Nudes (Paperback)

im a fan of retro photography, glamour photography, and french artisitic styles. however, i was very disappointed by this book. the photos appear to be from the 60s. however, i found the quality of the photos to be poor. VERY POOR. i was disappointed by the framing, the lighting, the printing, the subject matter etc etc etc. if you are interested in retro glamour photography, i would recommend a couple of alternate titles: "man ray" and "one thousand nudes." both are well worth the money.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not What the Title Suggests, April 19, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: L'Amour: French Glamour Girls: Retro Nudes (Paperback)

This book contains female nudes in crude, provocative sexual poses that would exceed what an R rating permits in a motion picture.

The images themselves are of well-endowed, French girl-next-door types wearing bits and pieces of lingerie, tons of make-up (like Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra), and teased hair (straight from the Peppermint Lounge). The paper, printing, lighting, compositions, and artistic content are almost always very low. The models are overposed, and look like they are appearing for the first time in print. If you have ever seen retro nudes on postcards in French-speaking counties, these images are not as good as that quality.

There is no essay with this volume, but the dust jacket has a brief translation from the Japanese text. The origin of the images were the many independent nude magazines that flourished on the Left Bank in Paris during the 1950s and 1960s. The models are described as "elegant, monochromatic sweet hearts." I agree with the monochromatic part. "Certainly, they are not perfect." That's an understatement. This imperfection is "a metaphor for daily life." "These images possess a tenderness that escapes the finesse and trappings of high art." Now, that's trying to turn a badly used silk purse into a mangled sow's ear. Frankly, the impression you get is of the sort of risque shots that men sometimes take of their wives and girl friends with instant cameras. In fact, the book has some sequences like those you get in a photo booth where the camera takes one image every few seconds.

I suggest you skip this book. No matter what you like about France, women, or photography, you can find much better places to spend your time and money.

Think about where else a title can make something sound fascinating, which is actually not to your taste. I'm sensitive to this because the title got me on this one.

If you want to see fine work from this same period, try Man Ray or David Bailey.

Look beyond the advertising to the reality!

4 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cold Coffee you still want to drink., June 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: L'Amour: French Glamour Girls: Retro Nudes (Paperback)

L'Amour: French Glamour Girls: Retro Nudes. is like cold sweet coffee the faces have a cold expression yet your eyes still fall in love with the exsotic recto feel. The photos are exsotic even sexy, This book is a good classic yet with indeviual style. a treat on most of the the 144 pages.