The Mammoth Book of Illustrated Erotica (Mammoth Books) [Paperback]

Marilyn Jaye Lewis (Author), Maxim Jakubowski (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mammoth Books | Publication Date: January 9, 2002

As artful as it is exciting, as tasteful as it is daring, this up-market illustrated Mammoth volume offers a massive gallery of stunning images by eighty photographers who have set the trends in nude photography and made a mark with their erotica in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Among the photographers included by the editors of this piquant and varied collection stand Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton, Wolfgang Eichler, Bob Carlos Clarke, Mario Testino, Wolfgang Tilmans, Roy Stuart, Trevor Watson, Michele Serchuk, Trevor Baker, Pascal Baetens, and Eric Kroll. All the photographers in the volume are generously represented by six pages of images that showcase their particular talent to best advantage in highly nuanced, top-quality black-and-white reproductions. Accompanying the presentation of each set of images, meticulously chosen for their aesthetic as well as their erotic appeal, are brief biographical vignettes of the photographers themselves that together provide a survey of developments and experiments that have advanced the artistry of contemporary erotic photography.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Running Press (January 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786709219
• ISBN-13: 978-0786709212
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #923,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

256 of 278 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars buyer beware, July 6, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mammoth Book of Illustrated Erotica (Mammoth Books) (Paperback)

Seven quick points:
First, note the dimensions of this book: 5 1/2" wide by 7 5/8" tall by 1 1/4" thick. About my hand's length tall and a thumb's length thick, not "several inches thick" as one of the other reviewers states. None of the pictures are large, most are 4" by 6 1/4" or so.
Second, note that the pictures are BLACK AND WHITE ONLY. Very artsy, yeah. Not very erotic if you're not color blind.
Third, there are only a few photos from each of several artists, not enough to get a real flavor for any of them.
Fourth, many of the bios of the photographers are pretty funny due to being so pretentious and self-centered. Who cares when these people got their first camera or whether they do photography for a living? The photos should speak for themselves, but so few of them do.
Fifth, lots of bondage. OK, lots of people like that, but be forewarned. If seeing women degraded upsets you, buy something else.
Sixth, lots of pretentious crap photos. "Ooh, look at me! I'm a published photographer! I can take pictures of naked girls in front of walls where the paint is peeling!" "Jejune" is the word that comes to mind. That and "tired" and "derivative." Some good photos, but few memorable ones. None that are really erotic in the sense of conveying the power of sexuality. What you see is the way women try to make themselves attractive to men or other women.
Seventh, if you want links to porn web sites, here they are! Many of the photographers list their web sites in their bios, and the web sites have some public teasers but invite you to pay them your hard-earned money for some porno.
I wish I had something comparable to recommend instead, but unfortunately most visual erotica is of lower caliber. Is there anything out there that is erotic and high quality?

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Erotica Notica: This is nude photography not erotica..., November 8, 2002

By 

Joe (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mammoth Book of Illustrated Erotica (Mammoth Books) (Paperback)

Erotica Notica

This is a wide selection of nude photography from a wide number of photographers. It's erotic only in the sense of naked women - a few photos have some sexual hints in a very PG-17 way, but otherwise the viewer has to be a pervert to think the majority are erotic (or be an immature heterosexual male who obsesses with female nudity and looses control of their fantasies).

Subject matter depends on the photographers and is widely diverse: the one most numerous theme is simply the naked woman facing the camera with nothing complex going on. Of the rest, some are of bondage, some body piercing, some non-nudes where the subject is naked skin of the back and buttocks (posture studies), some studies of the fall of light across skin, and some are even clothed women. A few are costume shots. A few are explicit and one or two concentrates on female anatomy close-up. Unlike another collection I viewed, there's very little shock-jock ugly photo's. Given the number of photos, there is not a true majority of anything but naked women.

Most models are professional female models - slender and attractive, with a few photos of less model-istic and more real women - who are still slender. White women dominate; Negro and Oriental models are in the minority. A few ladies are older but none are really aged.

In other words, this is pretty much the same-ole style of "glamor" photography you'll find just about anywhere. The selection is diverse, as mentioned, but often lacks true imagination. While a lot of people will find things they like and things they find silly and stupid (half the photos were silly to me), it also manages to leave out a lot of what may interest others.

Indeed, a good deal of the shots are dull, dark, and sometimes smudgy. Artsy to the point of being ruined. And of course, only black and white or single-toned.

The current price makes it quiet a nice deal for anyone who likes nude photography. But, I myself was still left hungry for something pretty, creative and original -- thus it's also liable to be a waste of money for many people. The one thing I will repeat: this is erotica only in the sense of being pictures of naked women, not in the sense of being sexually explicit pictures of men and women - or even women being sexually suggestive.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot stuff, September 9, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mammoth Book of Illustrated Erotica (Mammoth Books) (Paperback)

Yes, the photos are small and black-and-white, but they are very artistic, high quality, and erotic. I was surprised by my reaction to the black-and-white thing, because I don't generally like black-and-white photography, feeling that too much important visual information is lost without color. But in these photos, I felt it worked very well. For the price, this book is an excellent value, and it would be my guess that the photographers provided the images to the publisher at not charge, or even paid a fee to have their work displayed in this book as advertising, hoping they can sell images at their websites. These photographers are quite talented, however, combining artistry and eroticism very well, so some shopping sprees for prints for the wall would not be a bad idea. Just to clarify, as these things might make a difference to some, there are very few men in these photos, and even in the few images that have men at all, the women are featured and are clearly the primary subjects. Those looking for "equal time" with erotic male photography, or erotic male-female couples photography, would be disappointed by this book. There are some softcore female-female shots. Eroticism as used in the title here does not mean hardcore images of sexual activity, but as images of female beauty, from many different viewpoints, which will arouse those who find artistically-presented, suggestive, b&w images of nude women stimulating. I would guess that about ten percent of the images feature softcore bondage, which I thought were among the hotter ones, but some people might find a turnoff.