Pure Dance [Hardcover]

Dieter Blum (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2004

Here is a collection of dance photographs unlike any other. In a series of breathtakingly beautiful pictures taken over a period of five years, Dieter Blum focuses his camera on 37 of the 53 dancers in the world-renowned Stuttgart Ballet to explore the sculptural aspects of this exquisitely schooled human form; its strength, suppleness, discipline, mystery and possibilities for movement. Because all of the dancers are photographed in the nude, Blum succeeds in capturing the dynamic movement, musicality and magic of these classically trained dance artists. Each photograph becomes a distilled, frozen fragment of an art form that by its nature is fleeting. Dieter Blum's photographs of musicians, dancers and artists have appeared in Vanity Fair, Spiegel and Stern.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A collection of dance photographs unlike any other. Dancers are photographed in the nude to explore the sculptural aspects of this exquisitely schooled human form. Strikingly beautiful photographs of 37 of the 53 dancers in the world-renowned Stuttgart Ballet.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Te Neues Publishing Company (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3832790039
• ISBN-13: 978-3832790035
• Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 11.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,755,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Talk about uninspiring....., April 4, 2006

By 

Wei Ho "weiho72" (San Gabriel, California USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pure Dance (Hardcover)

This is photography? The photos are just plain aweful. The photos are uninspiring. It's mostly grainy documentary photos of the Stuttegart ballet. The studio shots are boring, usually taken with one light source from above, and the poses are very typical and unoriginal. The worst are the blown up cropped shots that looks like images that an amateur photography would do.

The book also has extremely poor layout, it seems it was trying to be creative with it. For example, you have many full page spread with just one word scaled up to fill the space. Then you have pages with one small photo that fills up about a fifth of the space.

I was hoping to find compelling and dynamic or just plain interesting photos, but found none. You might want to wait until this goes in to the bargain bin before purchasing. I know this is a harsh review, but I was very dissappointed with how some people could publish snapshots and call it photography.

I have returned this book to amazon.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some Beautiful Pics, March 31, 2010

By 

Paul S. Dachslager (Biose, ID USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pure Dance (Hardcover)

In response to Mr. Ho's negative review, let me just say that he has very selective memory or perceptions. The book is full of big, beautiful pics. A few of the pics are small, but this is a minority of pics. The pics come in three basic types. About four fifths of the pics are either posed, of the dancers lounging around or just random pics of faces, arms and legs etc. The posed pics are very nice, but not dynamic. The pics of the dances just lounging are more for erotic purposes, I think. About a fifth of the pics are stop-action, and these are wonderful, and more than justify the price of the book. The poses tend to be drawn a bit more from modern dance than ballet, but as a ballet lover I still found them to be satisfying. Having three books of ballet photography with the dancers in costume, it was interesting to see them nude. Considering the price of photography from a gallery, the book is well worth the price.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking pictures, spellbinding!, October 3, 2007

By 

A. North - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pure Dance (Hardcover)

The book is full of breathtaking photos of honed bodies of ballet dancers of one of the most famous dance group in Europe. It is poetry in motion. By its sheer aesthetic value the book will make a valuable addition to any home collection. Keep it on your coffee table at all times and keep it open. A great conversation piece that your guest will not want to put down.