Real Girls [Hardcover]

Scott Lanes (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2006

Scott F. Lanes gives us a peek at the beautiful girl next door that you won’t soon forget. A sexy, seductive and naked exploration of the pure beauty of his natural, young models. It is often said that nothing is more timeless than the beauty of the female nude but there are fewer things which have a shorter cultural shelf-life. Closely tied to popular culture, every era has produced its own distinctive style of erotic imagery. More than any other photographic subject, the nude resists being separated from its social context; photographers who try to do so overlook one of the most crucial demands placed upon erotic photography. Photographers who lack an historical understanding of the genre frequently misunderstand the unique conceptual difficulties which have always plagued those working within this medium. Gauging the sexual aesthetic requires a feeling for the relationship between subject and observer at that particular moment. These photographs represent authentic, contemporary women in an immediate, moment of natural trust with the camera, the viewer.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Lanes Scott Lane began his career in photography at 17, taking photos for Boston newspapers, AP and UPI. After college, he expanded his career with corporate, editorial and commercial assignments. He began shooting erotica in 1999 and has been published in Skin Two, Secret, Prometheus and Schlagzeilen. Shown in galleries throughout North America, his prints are in private collections around the world, as he captures the innocent beauty of his models, while creating that special moment -- developed through his background in photojournalism. He lives in Salem, Massachusetts with his wife.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 159 pages
• Publisher: Goliath Books; Mul edition (July 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3936709203
• ISBN-13: 978-3936709209
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,354,427 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Real disappointment, August 11, 2006

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Real Girls (Hardcover)

The author is quite right - each age has its own look, in fashionable figures, styles of hair and body hair, dress and undress, and more. It's a bit much for any one artist to claim to have captured the whole look of any one time, though.

Lanes has done a fair job of presenting these models. They're all attractive young adults. The figures are all charmingly natural, including the ones with naturally slim busts - I'm very glad to see people getting away from the implanted look. Unlike "Natural Beauties," though, Lanes prefers his models decorated with piercings and tattoos (though not the most radical of either) and some amount of clothing. Few of the photos are fully nude. Instead, most are partially undressed or undressing. That includes the most of the bathtub scenes. I have to wonder: do Real Girls really take baths with their clothes (or underclothes) on?

The models have an innate charm, but Lanes hasn't done a great job of capturing it. Occasional capture the elegance of a model's curve. More often, the attempt at a "Real" look misses views that could have made more of their beauty, and sometimes just looks amateurish. And, despite the goal of presenting the look of the current historical moment, Lanes has shown us a moment in which every woman has European features and skin tone.

So, there are better collections around. There are better books of ladies in undies, better books of ladies out of them, better books of piercings and tats, and better samplings of human variety. This collection is enjoyable enough, but rarely rises above the ordinary.

//wiredweird

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Vision of Beauty, December 26, 2006

By 

S. Sofija Canavan "anesthetise(d)" (Boston, ma United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Girls (Hardcover)

"Real Girls" is a book dedicated to the beauty the natural body holds. None of these shots are photoshopped for perfection, nor are the girls manipulated with plastic surgery.
The adornments on their body are those of tattoos and piercings indicative of their personality; their private lives, not society's idea of what beauty should be.
Lanes does an amazing job of shooting these girls using natural light, capturing their coy smiles, fair skin and the delicate looks in their eyes.
It's great to see that sexuality is still imminent in photography without the crudeness of pornography. The fine art of naked photography is something I have enjoyed ever since I discovered Nan Goldin a decade ago.
Cheers to Lanes and his models for putting together a piece of art that I am happy to keep in my bookcase and flip through when I desire some inspiration.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Girls Next Door, With Hidden Secrets, August 22, 2006

By 

Rick E. Lund (West Point, Utah USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Real Girls (Hardcover)

I love this book. But don't let the cover, or title fool you. You have to like the young 18+ girl next door look....with piercings and tattoos. These girls would look so normal dressed, and many photos have some clothing on (but most are nude, but not real explicit) But they all have some piercings or tattoos, or both. I found the photographs to be very erotic, in maybe a goth sense. But these girls DO have the real girl next door look, but you must love the look of tattoos and piercings, or you will be disappointed. I found it very different and erotic.