Customer Reviews

Shekhina

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I can understand how the religious would be offended by this work; it's got all the ingredients that would offend religious people.

But - but but but - I also have this to say.

As a Jewish woman, I'm tired of turning on the TV or going to a film and seeing negative portrayals of Jewish women. In film, actors like Ben Stiller are routinely - and almost exclusively - paired with blond, WASP leading ladies. This sends the wrong message. It makes Jewish women feel bad about themselves, and gives Jewish men the message that something is wrong with Jewish women.

Nimoy's work will not seem "Kosher" to many.

However, my immediate, gut emotional response - was to seeing an attractive, sensual portrayal of a Jewish woman on the cover, even if it was somewhat "immodest".

Does this represent me as a Jewish woman?

I sure hope so!

Does Fran Drescher?

Absolutely NOT.

THANK YOU, Mr Nimoy, for a much-needed celebration of Jewish femininity.

I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Nimoy in New York speak at length about his book of photography. As I listened to him, it became clear what a personal spiritual quest this process is for him, and that he has a deep passion for the power of photographic images.

This book follows on his previous work, tracing all the way back to Star Trek and the mystery of "Vulcanism." Essentially though, it seems to me to be a study of women in the nude, given a theme that fits in with Nimoy's admittedly loose association with Judaic tenets. There is no doubt great fascination that lies in the female/goddess relationship as explored in this book, but I just felt that this concept "framed" the work more than drove it. All things being equal, the photographs are very good and many thought-provoking. But then again, some, particularly towards the end, seemed self-conciously provocative. Once again, the Shekhina message is a loose one, ultimately serving Nimoy's personal views on sensuality. Nothing wrong with that!

Leonard Nimoy is a fascinating man with a probing mind, who sometimes outdoes himself in his unique mix of sentimentality and arrogance, and this book captures all of these things. But isn't that what we love him for? Keep up the great work Mr. Nimoy.

I shouldn't be dumbfounded by some of the negative responses this book has evoked. And yet I am.
As a deeply religious and spiritual person, as a feminist, and also a photographer of classical nudes not unlike those presented in this book, I commend Nimoy's work.
1. From an artistic perspective the technique, composition, and visual impact is intense and yet quiet.
2. From a feminist perspective, this work does NOT objectify women, but rather celebrates them. Mr. Nimoy has never been one to objectify women's bodies, as he made so clear with his Full Body Project in which he sympathetically photographed very, very rotund women. His very reference to Shekhina, the female aspect of the Hebrew God Yahweh (if you don't know anything about her, please look her up) shows his deep respect for women. Yes, these women are naked, but they are clothed in their own strength. They are not presented as objects of lust, but rather as beings connected to the spiritual realm. The nudity just serves to add to the poignancy, intimacy, and sincerity of the work.
3. Spiritually, there is nothing remotely insulting about this work. Nudity is not a filthy thing, just as sex is not (although this work is clearly not about sex.) Yahweh put Adam and Eve into the garden stark naked, because this was His idea of perfection, innocence, and beauty. It wasn't until sin came into play that clothes entered the scene -- Adam and Eve came up with the idea of clothing, and Yahweh just went along with it. Clothing is a social construct created by humans in reaction to their own shame. Worshiping before God nude shows our vulnerability, shows that we hold no barriers between ourselves and the Divine, and that we come to Him as He created us.
Simultaneously, this work challenges conservative Jewish, Christian, and Muslim perspectives of women that suggest they are the originators of sin and evil, and therefore do not have the same right or ability to connect with God as men (and as such are not allowed to be religious leaders.) He particularly highlights woman's ability to create and harbor life within herself, using this as an example of her unique form of spirituality. Mr. Nimoy's women approach God without the shame in relation to their womanhood and their supposed original sin, concepts the religious right tries to pound into them. Their femininity and pride therein is emphasized by their nakedness.
On all counts, a provocative, artistic, rich, reverent, inspiring work.

Ever been to a Jewel Kilcher concert? She's like an angel, everything pure and full of love, but so human. She's a real life example of everything Nimoy is trying to convey in this book. Angels among us, or the ideal force of a feminine divinity, spreading light and goodness only if we are sensitive to her presence. Women are elevated to share the spotlight with male divinity in Judaica, ecstatic angels, eyes closed to greet the light.

There's been a lot of fuss about the mix of religion and sensuality in this book, but half of the pictures don't even have anything revealing in them. What is visible in the other half is presented in the classiest way possible. These women are not presented as objects of our material posession, but as a physical representation of spiritual beauty. Some of the women glow from within, or are blurred into the ethereal. Most dramatic, in my opinion, are what he describes as a "spiritual pregnancy" and "spiritual birth" -- glowing light from within a woman's dress and then being born from her womb.

The text, also, has interesting and beautiful concepts in it. It may not be for everyone, but if you don't like it, don't look at it :-) That's what he said, anyway.

Contrary to some of the amusingly horrified reviews here, every single page of Shekhina is not plastered with breasts or splayed genitals. Of course there is nudity- full nudity on a couple of pages- but it is very tastefully done (if you're looking for pictures of naked women in an erotic context, look elsewhere). Nimoy's photography depicts these women reverently and they very much bring across the spirituality he intended.

Any time an artist mixes things sacred and what convention considers "profane" the taste police rear their ugly heads. Mr. Nimoy does some fine photographic work and in the context of what he's trying to explore, his work does indeed demonstrate a lack of fear mixed with awe in an attempt to see spiritual concepts in new physical ways. It's a great start and more artists need to do similar explorations into revisioning sacred notions and concepts. For the taste police, give it up, this is the 21st century already not the 19th.

... this is a beautiful book. It celebrates the sensual and spiritual without the predictable "the body is evil" ethos that is so sadly common in the Jewish and Christian religions.

The body is beautiful, reflective of the beauty of its Creator (if you believe in one), and of the beauty of nature. Leonard Nimoy proves himself to be a suprisingly skilled photographer in capturing the beauty.

Nimoy, for so long defined by his portrayal of a fictional character in a television and film series, has shown a different, and appealing, side of himself in this work. Highly, highly recommended.

This book really surprised me. I never expected Nimoy to be such a great photographer. We know him as Spock, and we've seen his acting. We know his poetry has pretty much been ranked as one of the worst ever, but Nimoy really found his voice with the camera. This book is sensual, artistic, and never crude. It's beautiful work, and I look forward to seeing more of his work.

As a first work of photography, Nimoy's Shekhina has wonderful depth in his effort to portray the feminine presence of God known to students of the Kabbalah for centuries -- possibly too understated for those without exposure to the subject matter in the background.

The pictures have a serene mood that stirs slightly with poses that suggest movement and femininity without any hint of certain sexuality -- because this is a celebration of the life more so that physicality.

The representation of the universal spiritual theme is without pretension.

Similar to Anne Geddes' recent work called Pure.

Actually I don't like pictures of naked women, because there are already too many of them, everywhere. But these pictures are different. They are very aestethically and well made. To share the topics Judaism godhood and women is really intersting, because I have never seen anyone - especially no man - who puts together believe and women, anyway if the women are naked or not. I think it is very couragenously of Leonard Nimoy to do it. I always knew he is a very emancipated man, he always was.

I liked most the pictures where I could see the relations to Judaism directly. The pictures are really impressive. I am not a Jew, but very interested in that religion and Leonard Nimoy (himself a trusted Jew) shows me one more time that Jews have something special and they (many of them I think) know what life can be when one uses its qualities. Actually anyone should know, it shouldn't something to do with believe or religion...

Very well done book and an interesting facet of a man who many only know as green blooded and with pointed ears, what is much too little, if one wants to describe Leonard Nimoy.