The Spirit of Lady Godiva [Hardcover]

Harvey (Author), Paul Rapoport (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2002

This unique book, eight years in the making, presents Harvey's photographs of nudes in public places. Lots of naked people -- women and men, young and old. But there's a twist: right next to them are unsuspecting clothed people. The result may be hilarious or look impossible -- but it's real.

The photos are completely unaltered. Yes, that naked man really is leaving a store with a pocket watch. Yes, those two naked women really are walking past a police station. And yes indeed, there are nearly two dozen naked people lounging on an outdoor terrace in lots of clothed company!

From New York to Los Angeles, New Orleans to Madison, Harvey has captured an incredible variety of scenes, including mighty famous landmarks, all with naked people right there.

The nudity is simple and natural: no hiding of body parts, no streaking or flashing, no teasing or flaunting. These naked people behave just like anyone else while ordering a meal, buying flowers, sitting on a bench, or hailing a cab.

With well over a hundred large black and white photos and a story about each, The Spirit of Lady Godiva will delight readers of all ages.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A delightfully whimsical look at what might be, if only society lost its unease with the human body. -- Going Natural, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Winter 2002-03)

Its sheer size makes the price well within the norm for books of photography. --Nude & Natural, Vol. 22, Issue 2 (Winter 2002)

From the Publisher

This leather-bound edition is limited in quantity. After the existing stock is gone, the leather edition will not be reprinted. --This text refers to the Leather Bound edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Heureka Productions (September 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0973027010
• ISBN-13: 978-0973027013
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,641,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nudity Never Looked So Fun, July 30, 2003

By 

Mark Storey (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spirit of Lady Godiva (Hardcover)

"The Spirit of Lady Godiva" is a giant, coffee-table book, filled with black and white photographs that make you think, "What would it be like if naked people could intermingle freely and calmly with clothed society?" Harvey's lighthearted answer is that it would be fun! Harvey took hours, and sometimes days, to practice with his volunteer models to have them undress in public quickly, to pose naturally for a shot, to get dressed, and to high-tail it out of the area before people busted a gut laughing or called out for the cops. The result is 264 pages of fabulous images of naked men and women seeming to mix naturally with clothed passersby along busy streets of Seattle, New Orleans, Los Angles, Austin, Chicago, San Francisco, and other U.S. urban centers. The price of the book seems steep at first, but this is a rich, photographic dreamworld that is just close enough to reality to make you want to try some local body freedom yourself. The book is worth every penny. I want to live in the world Harvey has created. This book may motivate some free spirits to make it so.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth every cent, June 16, 2005

By 

Stuart R. Ward (Mt. Shasta, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spirit of Lady Godiva (Hardcover)

A fabulous book, filled with astounding photos of naked and clothed people who appear to intermingle naturally in everyday life. I found Harvey's photos so inspiring it fired my imagination to write a novel on the advent of just such a body-friendly world. The spirit of Lady Godiva indeed lives on. Anyone who finds society's attitude towards the human body more than a bit loopy will find this book a treasure trove to stir their own imaginations on how things could be (and maybe some day will be).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Where's Waldo? of Bare Skin, March 22, 2007

By 

T. H. Pine "The WordWorker" (Edison, New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spirit of Lady Godiva (Hardcover)

The Spirit of Lady Godiva is the creation of a photographer who, like Prince, Madonna, et al, goes by the single name of Harvey. Quite simply, he's a guerrilla photographer. He studies the scene, instructs his models, and moves in to get the shot. Why do I say guerrilla? Well, he inserts nude people into unlikely locales, like street corners, outdoor malls, and cafes--that sort of thing.

What makes The Spirit of Lady Godiva different than most shots of nudes is that, unlike Spencer Tunick--who populates his shots with nothing but nudes--Harvey puts his nudes among clothed people in everyday settings. And, because he does this, it looks as though the nudes belong there--sort of in an alternate universe--where clothed and nude people can exist side-by-side.

Some of the plates are amazing. You wonder how he managed to pull it off. One of my favorites is one Harvey calls where's Nudo? In it, he's interspersed six different nude people in the crowd at an art fair packed with people--outstanding! Harvey has taken his photos in Ann Arbor, Chelsea and Detroit, Michigan; New Orleans, Louisiana; Albuquerque, new Mexico; Los Angeles and San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Madison, Wisconsin; New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Austin, Texas.

My only quibble bout Harvey's work is because of his shooting style--stop, drop, and shoot. He has his models get ready, whip off their clothes, and then he shoots. In some shots, when the model is in a particularly busy or vulnerable location, you can see his or her clothes lying at his or her feet. I feel that this causes the shot to lose its natural "feel." This isn't evident in all of them, thankfully.

I highly recommend The Spirit of Lady Godiva. It's one of those great coffee table art books that's also a great conversation starter. It's chock full of 127 plates (and one bonus plate for the limited edition). As you look at the photos, and read Harvey's sometimes tongue-in-cheek comments, you'll wonder why our country's cities and towns have so little room for the occasional nude body, since they seem to fit in so well.