Bondi Classic (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

'Bondi Classic' is a testament to Freeman's skill with the camera -- Sydney Star

Coffee table books featuring the male nude are two a penny nowadays. 'Bondi Classic' ain't one of those. -- Attitude Magazine

Product Description

This is the first solo photo book by Australian photographer Paul Freeman. 'Blue' magazine's favorite photographer for many years, Freeman is also known for authoring the best-selling biography of Ian Roberts ('Ian Roberts: Finding Out', Random House, Australia 1997)

'Bondi Classic' stands out in a publishing genre filled, of late, with thoughtless compilations. It's a sumptuous 240-page hardbound, with beautiful production values and design, and exquisite photography. It's the first in a self-published series of 'coffee table' collectibles by Freeman's.

A tribute to the Australian hero, Bondi Classic responds to a strong international demand for a book of Freeman's art nude portraiture. With remarkable talent Freeman gives us a sensual yet respectful look at a vast and varied array of Aussie men, including some of Australia's top actors, models, sports stars and Olympians. (Captured champion iron men, Princess Diana's personal trainer, mister Australia body building champions, actors from international theatre and film, television soap heart-throbs, top pro footballers, Olympic boxers, divers and wrestlers, and an Australian Man Of The Year!)

Using classic and European religious art references, often within an ancient and moody Sydney coastal environment, Bondi Classic takes us on an epic of unabashed male physicality. Maintaining a reverential distance from his subjects, Freeman's story revels in the paradoxes of masculinity. His subjects are strong yet sensual, courageous while provocative, violent and divinely innocent.

Director of the internationally- acclaimed Sydney Festival, Brett Sheehy, gave the book a rave review when he launched it in Sydney in February 2004. Sheehy referred to Freeman as a new Bruce Weber, as well as Australia's own Renaissance man.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 197 pages
• Publisher: Cowboy Mouth Publishing (May 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975143905
• ISBN-13: 978-0975143902
• Product Dimensions: 13 x 9.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #283,546 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Instant Classic!, July 14, 2004

By	H. F. Corbin "Foster Corbin" (ATLANTA, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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In the January 2004 issue of "Blue", the Australian magazine where Paul Freeman is decribed as the magazine's "most featured" photographer, the artist says that he has always wanted to keep some link with classical art. "Sort of like a meat pie inside the Sistine Chapel." Most of these models Michelangelo would have loved, and they to a man are meat pies. There is not a wimp or effeminate-- and it's okay if one is-- man in this collection of over 200 photographs. These men are rugged, hairy, beefy, muscular, tattooed, pierced, sweaty, wet and muddy. Some of them are a bit stylized and wearing gladiator garb. Many of them are at the beach-- Bondi perhaps--there are some beautiful portraits here. And no model has his genitalia airbrushed.

In his brief introduction Mr. Freeman says that as a youngster he was taken by the image of the suffering Saint Sebastian (check out the portrait on page 174 of Garth Elliot 2) and that present day influences are Bruce Weber and Herb Ritts (speaking of airbrushing photographs). I think many of his models look more like some of the work of Jim French as well as Caravaggio-- whom he acknowledges as an inspiration-- and Michelangelo.

Many of these men are photographed as many as 6, 7 or 8 times so you will probably get to see a lot of your favorites. Where to begin-- the man on page 11 (beautiful shadows), the outrageous Grant Perry (page 24 and 7 more photos), the hairy barrel chested Igor Praporshchikov on page 55, Black Angel No. 4 on page 73, Mat Obelisk on pages 76 and 77-- perfect exposure and lighting--the Gladiator on page 103 that, thank goodness, shows up again and again-- Gladiator 4 on page 126-- this is an unusal and most flattering pose-- the portrait of Ryan Kwanten on page 154, Kane 1 and 1 (pages 158 and 159-- the list goes on and on. The only photographs I don't care for are the ones with a snake wrapped around the model. Perhaps it's the Garden of Eden story that turns most of us off to these kinds of photographs. Richard Avedon did the snake photographs better years ago anyway.

If the test for a book of photographs is whether or not you return to it again and again, then BONDI CLASSIC gets an A+. In its own way this book is just as hot as Tom Bianchi's ON THE COUCH series. If you can only buy one book of this kind this year, this one's the one. Oh, go ahead; treat yourself and buy Bianchi's also.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Men of Australia, December 20, 2005

By	Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

For those looking for the best of the books of male photography, this portfolio by Paul Freeman deserves a place high on the list. Different photographers approach the male nude with different agendas: some try for classic poses, some go for spontaneous moods, some keep the 'privates' in the shadows while others place the focus there, some costume, some try for natural effects. Freeman searches (and definitely finds!) subjects who are quintessentially masculine Men. And this collection should equally engage the interest of women as of the ready-made male population.

Freeman uses his fellow countrymen (Australia) to show us the virile attitude of the untamed. These 'models' are buff, have body decor from piercing or ink, know how to make the partially clothed form even more sensuous that the fully nude form (although there is a lot of that, too), and in general creates photographs that are well conceived and executed and presented in a superb format. There are portraits solo and in tandem. This is a collection that will find a wide audience. Recommended for the novice and the connoisseur collector alike! Grady Harp, December 05

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensual and Beautiful, June 5, 2007

By	Sally Lubeck "Real Art Lover" (Palm Beach, FLorida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is simply the most beautiful collection of male nude art photography I have seen! the lighting, the compositions, the special beauty of the men which the photographer draws out, the fine balance between eroticism sensuality..and i haven't seen Paul Freeman's other books yet! Move over Bruce Weber"