Customer Reviews

SuicideGirls

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I have to first start out by admonishing the politicking by both sides in the reviews of this book. It's unprofessional, very misleading and ultimately doesn't have any place here. And I'm a member of the site in question which is why I'm equally disappointed by the fellow SG-ers who've taken it upon themselves to throw off the grading curve by unobjectively praising the book when the request that was made by the site was simply to review it, not wax poetic about it.

Anyway, that said I liked the book. But I'd be lying if I said I loved it. The photography was all well and good. Good lighting, etc. But as one reviewer stated before me it was just pictures of naked girls. There was no real visual panache to it. In a way it seemed like somewhat of a self-congratulatory piece. Especially since all the photography was taken by Missy who's actually done some spectacular work that wasn't included here. Not to mention that the site boasts the visual talents of Lithium Picnic. As such this book left a little to be desired. And it may just be a gripe exclusive to me but what is with the postcard size, one image to a page format?

I did however really like the interviews and journal excerpts in the last section of the book. I might have interspersed them throughout the book scrapbook-style, but that's just me.

All told it was a laudable first effort. Improvements could be made, sure. But I think it sets a good precedent that I hope they expand on with additional works in the future.

So why doesn't this book feature big, fat, ugly girls in its photo sets? It's a common criticism of SG, meant to negate its artistic merits. First, the obvious answer: it's erotic photography, meant to entice, arouse, et cetera. Featuring unattractive, unarousing models is obviously defeating the purpose. Sound shallow? It is, but let's not fool ourselves; this is altporn we're talking about. Secondly, anybody who makes this argument has misinterpreted SG's goals. "Redefining beauty" doesn't mean turning ugly ducklings into swans, but rather, to accomodate an alternative market that has been largely ignored up until this point.

Beauty is still beauty.

All that being said, however, this particular book is a rather unremakable collection. Though the website itself is spectacular and features some amazing sets, this book was published before Missy and co. really found their trademark visual style. There's way too many bedroom/domestic shots, rendering the entire collection rather monotonous. Still, it's definitely worth a look, if not neccessarily a must-have.

So. I've never wanted to pay for membership on the SG site, but I've always had an attraction and fascination with the whole punk/goth/indie/alternative type of look. So when this book was released, I jumped on it.

- The photos aren't very artistic. They're simple and straightforward, shot with a standard digital camera.
- It's arranged rather simply, with little or no thought to the placement of the images. (Usually two images side by side per page)
- True, you can probably find a lot of similar images on the internet.
- Some of the girls are absolutely beautiful, but I find some rather unattractive.
- The quality of the pictures is rather poor, since the original intent of SG was purely online. So the change from pixels to print never translates well.
- There's very little about the girls themselves... just short, self-written bio's on some of the girls in the back.
- Let's be honest... you're just buying this for the boobies of cute indie chicks... and that's okay.

After a couple viewings, it doesn't have a lasting effect that the likes of Tony Ward or maybe Richard Kern's work might have. Less art and more taboo. It's an inexpensive book, so if you're into the whole naked chicks with tattoos and piercing, I'd say go for it.

Well,the owner of the SuicideGirls.com told the SG members to review this book nicely then they could get some "army points" that can be exchanged for free SG goods or extended membership. So,do not believe in all the "good" reviews here. Be careful.

Most of the photos in this book are simply taken from SuicideGirls.com and there are only few private pictures of some selected models. That's all. I think if you already have visited the site,you don't need to buy this...unless you're a hardcore SG fan.

The photos are taken by self-taught photographers and the quality is not that good. However,the models are very attractive and unique with their own styles,bodymods...etc. If you are interested in girls with bodymods and haven't visited the site,it might be pretty interesting. But that's it.

To each their own,"beauty in the eye of the beholder", & all that.I find this a bit of a yawn - funny how all this leather/tats/piercings/etc seems to symbolize having a "free mind" nowadays.You see this all the time now,these daring "non-conformists" conforming to the hipster wannabe Ideal.Seems so uninspired and well,boring.Again,to each their own.....

I tried to love this book, believe me, I really tried, but the substance is just not there. First, I have never really visited the site, and just heard of it on an HBO special, so, I cannot compare the book to the online content.

Now, yes, I admit, the binding, quality of the paper and printing (ergo: everything not having to do with content) is fairly good, but let's be real! You wouldn't buy the thing if it was a bunch of ink jet prints on a three ring binder, would you?

The content, that's another story. Let me explain:

(1) The models are attractive young women who are not necessarily the typical Barbie model you find on most nude photography books, that was, perhaps, the biggest plus of the book. But they aren't either the "typical" goth/emo girl out there. Indeed, far from it.
(2) The photography style is very amateurish! Yeah, I am an amateur photographer myself, and maybe I wouldn't do a better job (and would have a harder time to find so many girls who want to pose naked for me), but I am not selling average pin up pictures as top notch counter culture nude photography! Nothing really memorable about the photographic technique.
(3) The girls, the poses and the backgrounds (all in doors) are relatively OK, but not much more than that. It looks like a slumber party of legal aged young ladies, mostly tattooed, who got curious with a camera, took a few thousand pictures during a weekend, and then picked the top 10%. Most of them are average, at most, a few are a bit above average, and for me, just two are memorable! (lower left corner on page 44, Rose's back, being the one I liked the most, curiously enough, a 2'x2' print only!).

Not really erotic, not really artistic, at least on my opinion. Having such a repertoire of beautiful tattooed women, they could have done a lot better job. I, for once, am not impressed. Indeed, I'm probably removing the rest of their books from my wish list!

The was fine...and thats all....sorry to say
I have been a Suicide Girls fan from the moment i stumbled across their site.
I expected the book to make me go WOW, most of the picvtures were known to me. some were quite ordinary
even for me....a die hard fan it was hrd to find the WOW Factor.

Im a female photographer who was given a copy of this book for my birthday. I really wanted to love it, but its really not all that exciting unless your REALLY into SG, or a fan of the SG model type. The photography is clean but the concepts are pretty atypical.

This isn't exactly the kind of book that you sit down and read. I am an SG member and was pretty disappointed when I picked this book up. I was expecting, maybe an interesting bio and good inside facts to the SG website and girls. The only really awesome thing about it is that you get a lot of good pictures of the girls in a nice lil book. The lady's entries aren't exactly interesting, poetic, or even very enlightening. They're basically blog entries from their website profile. This book gets quite a bit of attention at home, in the bathroom, from all of my guy friends. No one actually looks at it for more than 1 minute though.

I joined the site in June 2004 after being impressed with its content. I put off the book order for a while but just got it. I must say that this book fully excedded my expectations. The layout is first-rate. Much like the site everything is clean and well-organized. There is even an index of the girls at the back!

The book begins with "Missy Suicide" explaining the story of the site. It then has images she shot. The quality of the prints is amazing. The detail allows you to fully appreciate the beautiful tattoo work that several of the girls have. Finally, the book ends with a section of self-portraits and clippings from the girls' journals. This adds a nice touch to the book.

Overall I would say buy this book if you are a member or simply are curious and want to learn more about SG. The pricing is also very good considering the book is hardcover and all color.