Ruth Bernhard: The Eternal Body: A Collection of Fifty Nudes [Paperback]

Margaretta Mitchell (Author), Ruth Bernhard (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1994

For over half a century, acclaimed photographer Ruth Bernhard has worked to "simplify, isolate, and give emphasis to form with greatest clarity" in her radiant photographs of the female nude. Now, with Chronicle Books' timely reissue of her best-selling volume, The Eternal Body, Bernhard's most evocative images are once again available in a superb collection, complete with an insightfill text, that pays tribute to a living legend. Hauntingly sensual yet classically reserved, the book's ethereal duotone photographs appear to be illuminated from within so that even the simplest lines of the human form -- a draped torso, a curved neck, an angled limb -- take on a complexity not often seen in work of this kind. A master artist whose technical prowess places her among the ranks of the greatest photographers of our time, Ruth Bernhard has created a masterpiece of expression and sensitivity in The Eternal Body.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Outstanding. . . the greatest photographer of the nude. Ansel Adams

About the Author

Margaretta Mitchell first became interested in Ruth Bernhard's work in 1979 while preparing for her book, Recollections: Ten Women of Photography, and curating the traveling exhibition which followed. A dedicated photographer herself, Mitchell is the autho

Ruth Bernhard Ruth Bernhard, now in her late eighties, has been honored with exhibitions in prestigious museums and galleries throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and Mexico. Her work has also been acquired extensively by universities and private c

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; 4th printing. edition (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811808017
• ISBN-13: 978-0811808019
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 11.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #426,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transcendental Connections, April 23, 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: Ruth Bernhard: The Eternal Body: A Collection of Fifty Nudes (Paperback)

For those who are interested in inspiring portrayal of the human body, this book is a must! It is one of the finest collections of female nudes ever done. The images, reproduction, and paper are all superb. The book clearly deserves more than five stars!

The images in this book would garner an R rating if the book were a motion picture.

Ms. Bernhard takes a different approach to nude photography, partly in reaction to the exploitive work that some men do. She says, "I photograph a woman as part of the universe." She feels that "a minute insect, a mountain range, a human body -- all share equal significance." As a result she notes that "much of my work shares a similar intention [to a Japanese Haiku]." She wants to "illuminate the innate life force and spirit as well as the underlying remarkable bone structure." She looks on these photographs as being similar to the problem of composing a still life. She wants to create a "heightened emotional response" and is "deeply aware of my spiritual connection with it." She is responding to a "great yearning for balance and harmony beyond the realm of human experience, reaching for the essence of oneness with the Universe."

Margaretta Mitchell (no relation) points out that the work stands primarily for going "beyond cultural stereotypes of women." In doing so, Ms. Bernhard has created "focused meditations." She "directs her forms with studio lighting where the model is transfigured by light into sculpture." As a result, you see an "ideal radiant form." She is one of the "masters of the subtleties of lighting." The work evokes much of the majesty of Michaelangelo, Rodin, and Henry Moore.

Finally, from Ms. Bernhard, "The female body is the bearer of new life, it is so very innocent."

You will come away from seeing these images refreshed and reawakened.

My favorites here include: At the Pool, 1951; Dancer in Repose, 1951; Draped Torso, 1962; In the Box, Horizontal, 1962; Two Forms, 1963; Perspective II, 1967; Sand Dune, 1967; Profile, 1967; Transparent, 1968; Dream Figure, 1968; Rice Paper, 1969; Hourglass, 1971; Balancing, 1971; Spanish Dancer, 1971; Symbiosis, 1971; In the Window, 1971; and Resting, 1972.

Many of these images use the human body to evoke nature, our connection to nature, and the similarity of forms throughout nature. For example, in Sand Dune a woman's body is transformed into a landscape.

After you have enjoyed this great book, I suggest that you consider where else you can see connections from one person to another, and from people to objects and vice versa. That can expand your enjoyment of all that surrounds you, as well as open you to experiencing more joy.

Look for the eternal in all you examine!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hardcover Centennial Edition is Best Version of this book, July 31, 2008

By 

Book Collector "Collector 003" (California, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ruth Bernhard: The Eternal Body: A Collection of Fifty Nudes (Paperback)

When Ruth Bernhard turned 100, this book was reprinted as a Centennial Edition to celebrate. Published in a limited edition of only 1000 copies (hardcover) it features beautifully embossed end papers and minor editorial changes. It is the best version of this book to buy if you are a collector of photographic books. Ruth signed copies immediately before her death and those are available from the publisher.

4.0 out of 5 stars Gift, January 30, 2012

By 

Brian K (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ruth Bernhard: The Eternal Body: A Collection of Fifty Nudes (Hardcover)

I ordered this book as a gift. It arrived on time. I have not seen the book, but my niece is thrilled with it.