Customer Reviews

The Sacred Heart: An Atlas of the Body Seen Through Invasive Surgery

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This book is brave, and very well put-together. The work of photographer Max Aguilera-Hellweg, whose shots can also be seen in the yearly calendar issued by Philadelphia's Mutter Museum, is brilliant in its lighting and composition.

The subject, as revealed in the subtitle, is invasive surgery. Those who say the book is exploitative since the photographs are disturbing, probably need a Hallmark Card version of truth, and reality.

Invasive surgery invades the body. There are not photographs of Kate Moss, though it might be of Kate Moss later in life after the effects of her smoking finally rear their ugly head. But the photos in The Sacred Heart really come to terms with the ugliness and contradictory beauty of the human body in its most elemental stage.

The introduction is by Richard Selzer, whose other extremely readable books achieve direct paths to the most curious and disturbing aspects of what is seen by the doctor of medicine.

Imagine as a layperson being a witness to 100 major surgeries and you've entered the world of Max Aguilera-Hellweg's incredible book, "The Sacred Heart." A review of this book of surgical photographs in the Los Angeles Times grabbed my attention. "...these images are so visually beautiful that you are drawn into them before you know what you're looking at . . .Most of us have some familiarity with medical photography, and though it's rarely pleasant, it generally has a clinical quality that allows us to distance ourselves from the events depicted. Aguilera-Hellweg upends that tradition as well; drawing a parallel between the invasiveness central to surgery and photography, he leaves the viewer no place to hide and pushes everything front and center." This is the only book I've ever experienced where you think twice about turning the page for fear of what you might see next. Check it out.

There is no doubt in my mind that An Atlas of the Human Heart was a labor of love on the part of Max. The photographs are at once the most reverent and irreverant portrayals of the human body that I have ever seen. I will never quite be able to think of my body the same way again. Max's work is ambitious, inspiring, and challenging. The book gives you a glimpse of a truly sacred place -- the inside of the human body.

I, too heard the NPR interview when this book was released, and he said the most interesting procedure ended up not being in the book because it didn't photograph "well." It was a transurethral prostate resection (performed through a scope inserted into the penis) done on a fully conscious patient under saddle block anesthesia who conversed with him throughout. Dr. (now) Aguilera-Hellweg found that interesting partially because his mother had a saddle block when he was born and he was impressed to see its effect on this man.

Full permission was given by patients or their guardians before publication, and IMO the best (and most graphic) photo was the very last - the AIDS patient whose body was opened for autopsy.

In short, it's a coffee-table book you really wouldn't WANT on your coffee table.

Max Aguilera-Hellweg has taken an often shot subject and developed his own point-of-view. The lighting is absolutely exquisite and can even be compared to Rembrandt. One certainly wouldn't be surprised to find out that this photographer is currently in med school. What he witnessed obviously made an impact on himself as it does to his viewers.

song@SanFrancisco
There is a religiousity to the pictures that can only be seen to appreciate it. M. Aguilera-Hellweg portrays the awe and majesty of the inner physical self w/ such seduction and grace, we are enchanted by otherwise grotesque images of spines, sutures, and exposed craniums. Were it not for the perceptive and humanistic prose and accidentally dramatic lighting of the photos, most would distance themselves from the connotations of morbidity that such images would lend. Instead we are left enraptured by a secret inner world. I felt like a privileged patron, allowed access to a forbidden zone. Morbid curiousity might have been my initial inclinations but it developed into a profound sensibility that we are estranged from our own bodies much of the time. The ambiguity of an open cavity stretched out by latex covered hands in a scene that seems sensually mystifying makes you either question your sense of normalcy or it makes you reevaluate this inner landscape that you and most others revile in most other settings. There is an attempt to place the "soul" within these organs and cavities and the argument is persuasive; however, depending upon your metaphysical outlook (i.e., christian, atheist, mind-body dualist...), you may be open to it or taxed by it but the end result is the same. You are awed by the photos.

This book was written by one of my undergraduate premedical students at Columbia University who is a photojournalist. His interest in medicine grew out of his assignment to photograph a surgery, and he has been fascinated ever since--to the point of becoming a premedical student here. The text brings the subject matter to a level of religiosity and spritiuality that is remarkable. People are moved by this book. Most are thundersturck, some few are repulsed by the photos, but the text is so wonderful and the photogrpahy so spectacular that it is hard to resist. Do not miss this book.

Max's book definitely takes an interesting look on evasive surgeries. Being a medical photographer, I know that images like this taken during surgeries are not a simple task. But the question is whether or not this can be considered medical photography. Upon questioning Max about how long he had to take these pictures in the surgical settings, a straight answer could not be given. Normally a photographer doesn't have a lot of time to take a picture, they are just supposed to get in there, and take the picture, and get out. Obviously these images were planned out much more than that. They were taken with a 4x5 camera, is unheard of in a surgical setting. He does come up with beautiful images, very artistic in nature. Personally I enjoy looking at the book quite often, but I have to say that these images are not scientific, and if you look close enough, there are quite a few images that were digitally enhanced.

Initially I bought this book through the association with the Fantomas album borrowing images from this book for it's cover. It was exactly what I wanted it to be, profound, beautiful, visceral, disturbing, unnerving, grotesque, and awesome.

This was the nature of this book for me until my grandfather abruptly committed suicide and completely shattered all notions of what death was to me. No longer was death this rare exotic bird people whisper about in the dark, it was completely real, and I had seen it first hand. It totally destroyed me for months. I dwelled for weeks in the terrible places your mind goes to in that despondent state. It was the hardest time of my life.

Fast forward to when I was slowly adjusting back to normal life and I encounter The Sacred Heart again. Just a glance at it's spine in my bookshelf made me nauseous. Opening the book again all my fears of what happens to you after you cease to breathe came washing over me again. The pictures were no longer of pieces of meat to scoff at but of human beings departed from this realm and in another place entirely. And wherever they were, my grandfather was there with them.

Make no mistake, this is an incredibly beautiful important book, but know that it is completely unflinching in staring directly into the infinite void beyond where anyone on this plain of existence has traveled. Most people aren't strong enough to look there, but if you are, buy this book.

This isn't the type of book for the "easy-veiwing" crew but the photography, quality of printing, & subject matter is top notch! Not for everyone but if you're curious what the inside of your chest cavity or skull looks like (after it's been cut & clamped open, of course!)this is the book for you!