Customer Reviews

Patrick Demarchelier (Stern Portfolio Library of Photography)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With this wonderful depiction of form and expression, Demarchelier shows his mastery of presenting the face, the body, and the mood through an incredible feel for lighting and contrast. His adeptness at capturing the nude female form brings out incredible beauty without the slightest hint of pornography.

What you get: 82 black-and-white photographic plates, most of which are formatted to fill the entire page. With a few exceptions, all were taken from the late-80s to the mid-90s, and about half were taken from fashion magazines or designer ads. Most are of people, the majority of whom are recognizable (to me) celebrities. About one-forth feature the nude or semi-nude female body. For good measure, a couple pictues featuring members of the Demarchelier family are also included. All photographs are presented "stand-alone," with no notes or credits; however, this information is clearly referenced at the back of the book.

What you see: a straightforwardness of subject matter. Where other photographers might dazzle by snaring a moment in time from an event (e.g., Robert Doisneau), Demarchelier presents his subjects with no mystery as to what the viewer is to behold: the intricacies of the baobab branches in contrast to its massive trunk; the variations in lighting between two figures, one illuminated, one silhouetted, seated in front of a window; or the calm, confident gaze of Christy Turlington wearing only a tangle of wet hair, and a sheet around her hips. The side-by-side photos of Helena Christensen are perhaps the best of her ever, as may be the one of Turlington. Not to forget the face: the shots of Versace, César, Corbassière and Nastassja Kinski are absolute gems. I'm having a hard time puting this book down, and I'd love to know who that is hanging from the tree on the front cover.

I'm floored that this book is not more popular! It clearly is not getting enough exposure, as it is currently one of the best photo books available today.

Although Patrick Demarchelier is known as a fashion photographer, most of the images of top models and celebrities in this book are really portaits, many of them nudes. These photos are masterpeices of B&W portaiture. Among the great photographers who have published photo books, there are less than 5 I know that are in Demarchelier's league.

There are so many great images in this book. The nudes of Helena Christensen and Cindy Crawford are especially superb. Incidentally, contact sheets from the nudes of Cindy Crawford were recently expositioned by DeMarchelier.

If you appriciate great black and white photography, you will probably love this book.

If you are interested in looking at photos of celebrities, you will probably love this book.

If you are offended by nudity, even artistic nudes, you should probably avoid this book.

This book features the most perfect photograph of Christy Turlington ever taken. It also features a stunning cover--not to be missed and an amazing photo of Cindy Crawford. The photo of Turlington alone was worth the price of this book.

This is one of the best books of portraits that it has been my pleasure to view.

Before going further, let me observe that the book contains much female nudity that would earn an "R" rating if this were a motion picture.

Glenn O'Brien in the book's introduction captures the essence of the book well, "The beauty standard is being raised once again."

Whether the subjects are beautiful (and many are) or not, the result is the same -- a deep look into the personality and character of the model done in large, vivid detail in wonderfully contrasting duotone. One of the best tests for this book is to compare the celebrity images you see here with others you have seen of these same people. These images are more warm, more revealing, and more fun to see. Mr. Demarchelier has a light touch that gets out the happiest version of a person. You'll find yourself laughing and smiling your way through this collection, for sure.

The portraits displayed here are uniformly of very high quality, and provide nice contrasts of subjects (nose rings, boulders, children, and elephants among the beautiful people).

Here are some of my many favorites:

Nude, St. Barthelemy, 1994

Nude, St. Barthelemy, 1989

Her Royal Highness, The Princess of Wales, London, 1993

Warren Beatty, Annette Bening and their daughter, Los Angeles, 1994

Versailles gardens, Versailles, France, 1994

Gianni Versace, Paris, 1992

Nude, New York, 1995

Corbassiere, Paris, 1994

Helena Christensen, New York, 1992 (second image)

Cindy Crawford, Leh, India, 1989

Jasper Johns and Leo Castelli, New York, 1993

Roy Lichtenstein, New York, 1993

Naomi Campbell, New York, 1990

Isabella Rosselini, New York, 1994

Robin Williams (4), New York, 1990

Robert De Niro, New York, 1990

Sisters, St. Barthelemy, 1991

Christy Turlington, New York, 1990

Alice Dodd, New York, 1994

Natasha Kinski, New York, 1993

Warren Beatty from "Dick Tracy," Los Angeles, 1989

Elton John, Paris, 1992

Janet Jackson, Miami, Florida, 1993

Arthur Demarchelier, New York, 1991

Patrick and Mia Demarchelier and their three sons, New York, 1987

Meg Ryan, New York, 1994

Claudia Schiffer, St. Barthelemy, 1991

Paul Newman, Beacon, New York, 1994

Elle Macpherson, New York, 1990

Cindy Crawford, New York, 1990

After you look closely at these images, notice how lines and flaws provide balance and perspective in the same way that perfect figures provide proportion. How can you create more waves of enjoyable symmetry?

Drink deeply from the bubbling joy of humanity!

Something about these photos nourishes my soul. I am not a photographer, don't even own a Brownie camera, simply noticed the book at a check-out counter in a bookstore. The cover alone is worth 100 times the price........ a perfect nude dangling from an enormous tree limb that hangs out over the ocean. Cindy Crawford? Maybe. It's lyrical, stunning, art of the finest sort. . Patrick Demarchelier makes an incredibly profound statement with each photo. Buy it simply to soothe your soul........over and over and over and over again

Patrick Demarchelier is widely regarding as one of, if not the, world's leading fashion photographer of our times. Despite his early years in and around Paris, it was Demarchelier's move to New York that landed him squarely in the sites of publications like Glamour, Elle, Mademoiselle, as well as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar where he enjoyed decade long collaborative relationships.

Like his predecessors, Henri Cartier-Bresson (for whom Demarchelier once worked) and Richard Avedon, Demarchelier has brought the rich and famous to his striking world of black and white portraiture. While not his first book, this Steidl edition is certainly the most complete compendium of his impressive body of work.

During his career, Demarchelier has captured iconic images of both top celebrities and models (the true supermodels) and this 408 page volume shows the best of that work with models (Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Kate Moss) and non-models (Princess Diana, Madonna, Nicole Kidman, Warren Beatty and numerous others) from both his magazine shoots as well as those for a host of corporate ad clients as well. (LouisVuitton, Chanel, L'Oreal, Lancome, Calvin Klein, Versace, Armani, Prada and Gucci have all used him over the years.) Despite it's cover (and unlike other photographers who often rely on intricate poses and props to create their images - Newton, LaChapelle, Leibowitz, Seliger, etc.) Demarchelier's portraits are often disarmingly simple and direct, allowing the essence of the individual to come to the fore. The book itself is laid out in a dramatic and uncomplicated format - a single large (mostly) black and white image on most pages - complimenting the feeling of the photographer's work.

What is surprising, is that given Demarchelier's stature as well as the extent of his work, that there hasn't been a comprehensive, retrospective work like this until now (most of the photographs depicted here are from the 80's and 90's - well over a decade ago.) Regardless, `Patrick Demarchelier' serves as a well done, albeit overdue, collection of one of the top portrait photographers of our time, which means, it is about time, indeed.

These photos by Patrick are really great. His talent is unique. The pictures of celebrities and well know people are simple yet full of meaning and reveal personality aspects. The random photos are wonderful. I love it and highly recommend it.

Demachlier has acheived his purpose exquisetly. This book is by far the best photo book with the goal of capturing the essence of some of the most beautifiul and well known figures of our time. In addition, Demachlier does a wonderful job of portraying some really beautiful random scences.

One of the top fashion photographers offers this collection of portraits (all black & white) of the most famous people of today...rock stars, fashion models, designers , artist and other celebrities. Also included are superb photographs of  scenics, figure studies and still lifes. (over 80 photos - All black & white)

I have always been a big fan of Sante D'Orazio's and Patrick De Marchelier's work.... this is ART by all means! If you're into photogrphy, it's a must that you take a look at their books. I wish I can buy all of D'orazio's and De Marchelier's work!
And I wish I can give it more than 5 stars!!!!