Customer Reviews

Visions: Contemporary Male Photography

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

 

 

In his preface to this quite amazing book Claus Kiessling says that this is the first anthology "coming from the house of Bruno Gmunder, a unique project uniting a variety of styles." David Leddick, well-known and respected for his several collections of male nude photography, also has written a short preface. There are well over 300 photographs included here by sixty-seven artists (in alphabetical order) from around the world-- Germany, the U. S., Canada, Spain, Russia, France, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Lebanon and Thailand. Some of the photographers are well-known, having published books or been anthologized before-- Tom Bianchi, Kristen Bjorn, Seva Galkin (in a recent edition of "Blue" magazine), Christopher Makos, Joe Oppedisano, Jeff Palmer, Howard Roffman, James Spada, Steven Underwood, David Vance, Carlos Quiroz, Kingdome 19-- and probably others of whom I'm not familiar. The pages are not numbered and the artists are listed by residence, e-mail address and sometimes their date of birth. A few of the photographs are named in the photo index included at the end of the collection. What the editors have done admirably here is to let the photographs speak for themselves; and they do, loud and clear.

There is an embarrassment of riches here and certainly something for everyone regardless of your interest or fetish. The photographs are in color, in black and white, in focus, out of focus, sharp and grainy. Some of the men are shot in classic poses, other have props running the gamut from masks to ropes, leather, lingerie and designer underwear of course. There are skinheads, an amputee, and men of different races.

Some of my favorite photographs in no particular order are Kristen Bjorn's shot of two nude men standing overlooking Rio de Janiero (I believe), Christopher Makos' six beautiful head shots, Monopoly's erotic "Colt rehearsal," Bruce LaBruce's humorous set-- particularly "Black Sheep," Aaron Cobbett's stylized sailor shot, Jay Diers' "Ty 1" for the beautiful side lighting, Matthias Herrmann for the guts to do those outrageous self-portraits, Matthias Kort for the wonderfully lit "Uwe," Joan Crisol's work, Mark Lynch's "Paul-The Old Warehouse, 1999" for obvious reasons, and the first photograph by Kelly Mink for its great composition. Finally the four photos of Carlos Quiroz-- is he influenced by Edward Weston?-- "Nude LVI," "Nude LXXXI," "Nude LXXXVI" and "Horse" are original beyond description. At first, I was totally convinced I was seeing a rose in the second photograph!

Someone will have to work long and hard to publish a collection of male nude photography better than this beautifully reproduced and printed book.

The book has some great photographs all with a good quality for both the execution and the print. Still not up to the 5 stars of any of Paul Freemans books. Bondi Work, Bondi Classic etc but still very enjoyable and well worth the money.

Bruno Gmünder Verlag Gmbh is a highly regarded publisher of photographic essays, taking more risks than most other production facilities in this country. This very impressive book surveys contemporary photographers whose works emphasize the male nude and contains sixty seven artists from the well known to the emerging and the result is a hefty volume of both black and white and full color images that offers as wide a spectrum of 'visions' as any book to date.

After a Foreword by the always readable and well-informed David Leddick, the book unfolds in sections based solely on the individual photographers fortunate enough to be included in this panorama. The pleasure of this particular book on the male nude is the variety: images range from the hilarious costumed fantasies, to the brutally erotic, to the quietly sensual, to the 'model look', to the beefcake stance. Included in the collection are the very well known photographers Tom Bianchi, Kristen Bjorn, Ed Freeman, Steven Underhill and Kingdom 19 and the works selected form their large repertoires are fine choices indeed.

But it is the pleasure of meeting new ideas from lesser-known photographers that is encouraging: David Vance, Joe Ziolkowski, Roger Nguyen, Troy Phillips are but a few. The artists are from around the world and for those of us familiar with the works of such photographers as Adam Raphael, Norm Yip, Eric Olson, and John Sonsini among others seem like a much-missed exclusion. But not every artist can be included in a volume even of this scope, and the book stands as a first class collection of the many ways the male nude can be celebrated. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, March 07

The images are pretty sweet. My first male photography book. My friends and I enjoyed checkin' it out. It has quite a few different styles and techniques which my friends and I really liked. Since I'm into photography as well, it gave me some ideas of new ways to shoot.

...we're in trouble! The selection of artists covers the highly salable 20% art/80% pornography ratio. It also illuminates just how derivative contemporary male photography is. Buy a book of Mapplethorpe, Pierre et Gilles, Mark Morrisroe and get the real deal. Or make a donation to an art school. On the upside, the book is well produced and shows artists from a range of countries.

Any one who collects male photography needs to add this book to their library.