Soft (Hardcover)

by Richard Kern (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Richard Kern is smarter than the average pornographer. What other shutterbug for Penthouse and Juggs also makes videos for Sonic Youth and Marilyn Manson and exhibits his shots of naked friends in high-toned galleries? But these artfully artless photos mark a new breakthrough for Kern. Best known for very hard-edged pictures and films--his DVD retrospective is entitled The Hard Core Collection--he now shows us a far softer side, which turns out to be even more unsettlingly transgressive than his violent stuff. The Soft photos are like a collaboration between himself and his punky young subjects, flirtily flaunting themselves in various states of come-hither undress. It's an art that conceals art: his skill in lighting, framing and staging his scenes coyly hides behind an unretouched do-it-yourself look, making the steamy scenes resemble what might happen if the amateur goth exhibitionists of the Suicidegirls website had all gone to art school. The girls loll and puff bong smoke into the ripe O of each others' mouths, blankly display nosebleeds, "accidentally" flash their panties, mockingly parody archetypes from Cindy Sherman, soft-core porn, and notorious candid tabloid "gotcha" snaps of celebrities: Catherine Zeta-Jones pregnant and smoking, Uma Thurman caught topless emerging from the surf. They play their parts with gleeful aplomb, in a fun, smutty (but not too smutty) conversation with the photographer. Institute of Contemporary Art curator Matthew Higgs supplies Artforum-style insights in his scholarly essay, but this is one book most folks won't read for the articles. --Tim Appelo

Product Description
Beyond traditional portraiture, Richard Kern's new works manifest a strong eroticism while incorporating the cinematic power of his earlier "Transgression" theme. His recent photographs with saturated color and stark, atmospheric lighting accentuate his pretty-but-not-perfect young nudes. Inspired, unique, and "real," his approach is as daring as ever in Soft. Still sticking with the "no airbrush" motto, Kern's unpretentious, honest photos draw the viewer in close.
Kern's longstanding relationship with the "No-wave" scene, which incorporated music, performance, feminist art, and the punk lifestyle, is reflected and distilled in these photographs.


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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Universe (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789312042
• ISBN-13: 978-0789312044
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #430,718 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet, June 9, 2006

By	wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Kern has put together a very enjoyable collection of semi- and nude portraits. Before anyone tries to draw lines across the moral or artistic landscape, keep this book's introduction in mind. In it, Kern identifies himself as a pornographer and says that the staging of his photos makes them "fakes" (his word). That means it's OK to enjoy the erotic in these tasteful pictures, because it's been put there for the viewer's enjoyment.

That said, the eroticism is generally the kind that exists naturally in any beautiful young woman, and just about all young women embody some kind of beauty. And, despite the claim of "fakery," these the models are presented in a much more natural way than in work by lots of other photographers. Their skin is allowed to have dots, veins, texture, and that lovely delicate down. Those things make the model unique and human, not just another polyethylene stereotype. The models keep their body hair, if they want to, or don't - there's no standard look that each one is forced into. There are lots of lingerie shots among these pictures, but it's generally the everyday kind: practical underwear, not photographic props and toys. Somehow, that adds familiarity and an honest kind of intimacy to the pictures. Some of these pictures are a little raw, too. I don't mean crude (except once or twice) or hard-core, just not softened by drippy romantic convention.

My only criticism is that the models all match a too-familiar profile: European features and coloring, twenty-ish but selected for a younger appearance, and slender. They are all lovely even if they don't match the runway model look, or because they don't. The problem is that there are lots of other ways to be beautiful, too, and I miss them when they don't appear in collections like these. That's only a mild criticism, though, because this really is an enjoyable set of pictures.

//wiredweird

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Misleading Title, May 21, 2005

By	Timothy Haugh (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

After reading the interview with Mr. Kern at the beginning of this book, I felt like I was able to get some sense of the man. I understand a little bit about his history and development as an artist. But, in point of fact, this is the first time I've seen Kern's work. And, though I think I understand why he calls this collection Soft, I don't think that word accurately describes most of this work. Gritty, I would think is more accurate. Harsh.

That is not to say that there aren't some images he that I really enjoyed. "Sarah's purple top," "Vicci's skirt," "Kaori in bed," "Laura's backside in shower," and "Morning coffee" I all felt hit just the right note: the stark, unfilteredness that Kern captures in most of his images combined with that sense of softness you expect from the title. There is no doubt Mr. Kern has talent.

Unfortunately, most of these images did not effect me in a positive way. I'm not against art that makes the viewer feel uncomfortable or dirty but, when I do get that reaction, I also like to feel that I've come through the experience having gained something. Insight, at least. With many of these pictures, I didn't see their meaning and I didn't see their beauty and I was left feeling empty. If that was Mr. Kern's purpose, then he succeeded. But that's not what I want from photography.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Has pros and cons, October 7, 2005

By	chicoer2003 "chicoer2003" (Fresno, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Soft has some great photos and some not great ones. Some are just weird, like a nude woman with a bloody nose. Others are merky and out of focus. Some are well done. Kern's work is just hit and misses.