Customer Reviews

The Spirit of Lady Godiva

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"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.

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).

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.

If you look at the two other reviews for this book, you'd think it's great. But then look closer, one of the reviewers has only rated 5 books, and they are all about nudism. Each book got 5 out of 5 stars and a great review. So, if you are a person who is into the nudity movement, or a naturalist you will love this book. If you are not, it will fall flat. The other reviewer has only ever rated one book. Hmmm.

From the standpoint of a photographer, or someone interested in photography, you will probably be disappointed. The work is very armature. The images tend to be very poorly exposed, lack good contrast and without the best composition. The idea is good, but the execution is lacking. He needs to take a basic photography class. He self published his book. Get a chance to look at it before you buy it, if you like it, good for you, otherwise beware, it's all about nudity and not about photography.