Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully Graceful Figure Studies, February 15, 2001
If you have ever looked at some of the finer French (or American, or British) postcards of nude figures and found yourself drwn to the natural grace that many exhibit you will appreciate the work of Albert Arther Allen.Allen was a San Francisco photographer who, in the 1920's, made his way by catering to a small clientele that collected 'boudoir photography.' His photography was pretty soft core by today's standards, but they were serious erotic photography in their time. Unlike the artistic nude tradition of later times, Allen's work has a natural intimacy and grace that make his pictures very approachable on many levels. The poses are very academic, designed as compositions, perhaps with a tale to tell, as well as carefully posed studies of the female form. The images are delicate and exhibit a fine control over the photographic process. Allen had no great artistic pretensions and was something of a 'naturist.' Today, with our jaded eyes, we will often perceive his efforts as high camp. But they really are more than that, and worth some study. The edition is the typical, lush Twin Palms effort, finely printed with extensive use of color plates to capture the images perfectly. A book to appreciate and enjoy!
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting book, August 19, 2001
This book covers the history, social situation and product of Albert Arthur Allen. Albert Allen worked in the 1920s and his book and photographic work reflect the concepts of beauty at that time. The hairstyles and props as well as the figures reflect the times. This was a time period when nudes in sculpture and painting were okay but in photography it was not considered art but generally considered pornography. Albert Allen forged ahead in spite of all of this. The first part of the book covers his work, ideas (although many of them were quite strange) and photographs that are of an anatomical guide style. Full frontal and rear photographs of what are mostly slightly overweight models by today's standard of beauty but consistently in line with concepts of beauty during the 1920s. While a fascinating read and study of Albert Arthur Allen, most of the photography is very average by today's standards. Then again there were some series that showed true genius in artistic composition and use of light. A fine example of this is the Alo Studies taken from 1916-1923. They resemble Maxfield Parrishs work but with nudes. Instead of a study of nudes like most of the rest of the book they are a study in composition, light and art. If you study Albert Arthur Allen as an artistic study or his life as a study of where photography of nudes as an art form has come from then this is an excellent book. Even as a study in sociology this is an interesting book to see how concepts of beauty and acceptance of nude photography as an art form have changed over the years. His concepts of sociology, culture and racial differences and how they affected his photography are fascinating to read.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A TRUE MASTERPIECE!!!, July 9, 2003
This book is masterpiece! It might even be one of the most important books on nude photography ever published - it's that good. First of all, it's a huge and scholarly look at the life and work of photographer Albert Arthur Allen. The first forty or so pages are all text describing the life and times of the photographer. The information is fascinating and will prove quite insightful to anyone interested in the 1920's and 1930's, especially from an artistic and photographic perspective. And then there are the pictures ... Wow! The hardcover book itself is 10x10 and contains 256 pages of absolutely beautiful, pure, pristine, nude-oriented erotica. Full frontal nudity in all its glory is what made Allen a marked man by many of the "morality police" as well as the legal authorities at the time. And it's what really sets him apart from most of his contemporaries like Imogene Cunningham and Edward Weston, who were considered genuine and legitimate members of San Francisco's art community.Allen's work could certainly be seen as a reflection of the "high-flying spirit of the Roaring Twenties" and seemed to appeal less to the art collectors of the time than it did to gentlemen who in later times would be fancying Playboy and Penthouse. This is not meant to impugn the artistic merit of Allen's work at all, just the opposite. Allen was just a lot more daring than his peers and this generated an electrifying element of excitement to his photographs, something can still be felt to this day. Initially, a lot of his models were fellow naturists, but towards the end of the 20's he started to recruit more from newspaper advertisements, targeting women who had come to California to chase dreams of stardom. Allen's young women were "clearly crossing the line of acceptable behavior for a proper woman - and they new it." That's exactly what makes this work so exciting, so deliciously naughty. Do whatever you have to do to get your hands on this book - it will not disappoint.
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