Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Fine Line between Art and Pornography, August 3, 2001
By A Customer
I bought this book without any predisposed notion of what it might contain. I read several reviews of Kern's work, which raised my curiosity level to the point where I arbitrarily decided to acquire one of his books. .... However,...there is a distinct quality to some of Kern's rather stark photographs that transcends anything that you would find at the adult bookstore. One can't help but admire the fact that he uses some very ordinary women as models who are shown in very ordinary contexts, blemishes and all. It's difficult to be "titillated" by what I consider to be Kern's frequently blunt approach to presenting the female body. While viewing the photographs in this book, there were times that I felt like I was receiving a visual biology lesson, while at other times I felt like a voyeur. In that regard, I suppose Kern has succeeded in challenging the viewer's pre-existing perceptions of the female body, and perhaps women in general. In a broader sense, it would appear to me that Kern challenges the definition of art, and blurs the border between it and pornography. Model Release is not a coffee table book, and it's not suitable for anybody who is even moderately immune to being offended. But with an unbiased attitude, the reader may be able to gain a better understanding of Kern's personal artistic vision.
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
new richard kern book: model release, January 29, 2001
Finding out about Richard Kern is like discovering one of the photography world's best kept secrets, excuse the cliche. Always ignoring the line between pornography and art, Kern continues to use his mastery of light and colour to create visually fascinating pictures. Unlike his earlier book, New York Girls, Kern seems less concerned with s&m theatrics and relies on the personality and physical attributes of his models to interest the viewer. For the most part, the barely-legal appearance of the models and the use of his apartment for a background create a sense of unity throughout the book, and some of his most interesting shots are ones that appear in sequence, an influence of his earlier film days I am sure. One of my favorite things about the book is how Kern seems to use a lot of natural light in these new works, which complements the freshness and imperfection of the girls. The compromising positions of the models and use of ...(aparatus) may be too much for some people with their own issues to handle, but keeping an open mind one can really indulge his or her voyeuristic tendencies! The almost academic introduction is written by one the models, a film student herself. All analysis aside, the book is provocative and incredibly beautiful to look at!
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45 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
How special is this work really?, February 9, 2001
By A Customer
There is no blurring, no grey area about the status of this book: it's porn. The question is not whether it is art in the alternative to porn, but art as well as porn. But its status as porn is beyond doubt. For one thing, it helpfully admits it. There is also the introduction by Lucy MacKenzie that, whilst doubtless sincere, reads like the validatory (always female)editorial of a porn magazine. However, as porn, it is actually relatively tame. Anyone buying it as porn would probably be able to get more satisfaction from cheaper top-shelf sources. Once it is accepted as porn, its other qualities, good and bad, can be more properly examined. All of the pictures are nicely presented, although the facing page lurid block colours tended to detract or influence the images - was this intentional? The labelling is not always clear, which is irritating if the work is to be treated at all seriously. It does not compare well with Ewing's collection "Love and Desire". There are some excellent pictures which show real character on the part of the models, though often these are the "off set" shots such as "Lisa strips". The best parts of the book are where the pictures are presented as a sequence. For example, there is a "block" of images of Ms MacKenzie, culminating in a (fully clothed) image that will shock many. But even here there are pictures of Lucy at the beach that do not make sense except as "other pictures in the portfolio." The reader looking for a "deeper" level to this collection may be forced to the conclusion that such is really all it is - a snapshot album. If we look too hard for the deeper level ... why is one of the first shots apparently of Lucy MacKenzie at a very young age wearing a brace? Did anyone else feel uncomfortable looking at "Kirsten's tie"? It has the qualities of looking at Schiele's pictures - is the artist commenting on or delighting in the situations presented? But the images generally lack Schiele's definite statement. It is not Sally Mann. It is not David Attie, whose "smiling nude" does tell us something about self-presentation. It is an interesting work, but flawed, and sadly possibly nothing really special. Like most porn.
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