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Summary: Erotica Notica: This is nude photography not erotica...
Review: Erotica NoticaThis is a wide selection of nude photography from a wide number of photographers. It's erotic only in the sense of naked women - a few photos have some sexual hints in a very PG-17 way, but otherwise the viewer has to be a pervert to think the majority are erotic (or be an immature heterosexual male who obsesses with female nudity and looses control of their fantasies). Subject matter depends on the photographers and is widely diverse: the one most numerous theme is simply the naked woman facing the camera with nothing complex going on. Of the rest, some are of bondage, some body piercing, some non-nudes where the subject is naked skin of the back and buttocks (posture studies), some studies of the fall of light across skin, and some are even clothed women. A few are costume shots. A few are explicit and one or two concentrates on female anatomy close-up. Unlike another collection I viewed, there's very little shock-jock ugly photo's. Given the number of photos, there is not a true majority of anything but naked women. Most models are professional female models - slender and attractive, with a few photos of less model-istic and more real women - who are still slender. White women dominate; Negro and Oriental models are in the minority. A few ladies are older but none are really aged. In other words, this is pretty much the same-ole style of "glamor" photography you'll find just about anywhere. The selection is diverse, as mentioned, but often lacks true imagination. While a lot of people will find things they like and things they find silly and stupid (half the photos were silly to me), it also manages to leave out a lot of what may interest others. Indeed, a good deal of the shots are dull, dark, and sometimes smudgy. Artsy to the point of being ruined. And of course, only black and white or single-toned. The current price makes it quiet a nice deal for anyone who likes nude photography. But, I myself was still left hungry for something pretty, creative and original -- thus it's also liable to be a waste of money for many people. The one thing I will repeat: this is erotica only in the sense of being pictures of naked women, not in the sense of being sexually explicit pictures of men and women - or even women being sexually suggestive.
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Summary: Great intro to the field packed with photos
Review: For the price you can't beat this if you want a dose of artwork by photographers in this field. Brilliant....
Rating: 
Summary: Not Another One!
Review: How many more 'histories of nude photography' can be produced without depleting the national ink reserves which will certainly result in books, such as Lady Chatterly's Lover, never again being printed? This book is a thick-as-a-brick collection of images that questions why anyone would want to collect such things. Because most of these images are old does not make them any more interesting and, in some ways, enables the 'reader' to chastise the past as 'no better' than the present in its appetite for low-bar imagery. Fortunately, historical revisionism does not fare well in the art world. Thumbing through this edition left me searching for any redeemable value beyond relief after placing it back on the shelf. As an alternative to this garbage, I suggest supporting photographers currently working in this genre; Saudek, Sturges, and so forth. Ok, the book is cheap and if you don't have one of these monocular anthologies, I suppose this one is as good, or bad, as all the others.
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Summary: Exquisite Book - Gives you a taste of many genre
Review: I absolutly love this book. It was a bit smaller (slightly larger than a paperback) that I thought it was going to be but it is 2" thick (almost 500pgs). I would assume they had to do that to keep the price low but still get everyone in. Paper and ink aren't cheap you know.
It is in black and white, but for those of you with taste, know it is perfect for erotic photos. You can consentrate more on the subject and the point of the photo and not be destracted by busy color.
The book has over 75 artist from around the world and from all walks of life that photograph nudes in different forms. It gives you a bit about the artist and several pages of their work, then moves on. It has a range from simple shots by the window to elaberate ... scenes in costume.
For me, the book helped because it gave me a taste of many artist so I can pick what I like and not spend bucko bucks on books of just one artist/genre. It's a nice book to go back to for a little varitey a must have for anyone's collection!!
Rating: 
Summary: Good reference material.
Review: I am very interested in photography, especially fetish fashion style photography. I found this book to be a great reference source for information about photographers in this field. Now this isn't one of those slick, flashy, fetish style books, it's full of B&W and toned images. One of the best things about this book is that there is a paragrah or so about each photographer, their style, or some other interesting facts and information about them. From this book I was able to get some good ideas of photographers that I liked and with their names I was able to in most cases find more of their work on the internet (a bit better way of searching, as opposed to entering fetish photos in a search engine).
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Summary: Not What I Expected from Playboy Review
Review: I bought this book because it was reviewed in Playboy magazine. Not at all what I expected. Playboy cleverly displays the best photos from the book and leaves all the weird S&M stuff unshown. Many of the women shown aren't even pretty. Maybe I don't understand what "erotica" is, but this book wasn't what I expected. A small book too, about the size of TV Guide but thicker. I just found the book to have too much bondage and S&M for my tastes. Some images might border on pornographic too, if that bothers you. Nothing really graphic though.
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Summary: nice useful refernt book
Review: i bought this book to be used as referent for nude drawing, and as such, i't proven to be very useful, a lot of very good quality photos, in black and white (all you color lovers, this is deffenetly not the book for you, though i love my erotics black and white, so i'm happy with that), pretty good level of print and reproduction which is also nice, and a good format, small and thick, so i can carry it around in by backpack and not just keep it on the bookshelf. it is a good introduction to nude photographers, some erotic, some artisitic, some more fashion oriented. and it's a good way to start if you know you are interested in nude photography and don't really know what you like. ...also, a technical problem, due to the format, the paperback cover's not holding out too well, and though it's not falling a part or anything (so far!) it's not exsactly the perfect solution to it.
Rating:
Summary: Well done, and insightfull, but a tease
Review: I definitely recommend this book, and it is an excellent value. It is literally stacked with hundreds of amazing thought provoking and innovative images. To be critical though, I found my only disappointment to be the flow of the book. I found the bock changes too rapidly in style, as a result of trying to accommodate the over 75 photographers showcased in this work. From this point of view I find the book a bit of a tease, as you only get a brief taste of the work by each artist, and for many of them you may find yourself wanting much more. For this reason I find this an excellent introduction to this form of photography, but because of it's wide scope, I find myself leafing from section to section to pick out those images I want to emulate most, and am constantly filtering out those I am not so fond of. Over all the book lives up to it's erotic title, although there are some photographers who's images have been unanimously identified by all that I have reviewed this work with as disturbing. However do not let this stop you from picking it up, for the price you will not be dissapointed.
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Summary: erotic illustrations
Review: i highly recommend this book. at first it took me by surprise because the book is smaller than i expected. it's really well put together, and i couldn't be happier. the photographers are amazing, and i've discovered a few new artists that i had never heard of before. this is a GREAT price for this book. this book is something i'll go back and look at for inspiration. if you like erotica, and nude/fetish photography, this would be a great addition to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: This needs MORE than five stars!
Review: I own many erotic photography books, I use them for inspiration when I do my paintings, etc. and I must say, this is by far the best book in my collection. It has like 480 pages of black and white photography from some of the most creative photographers ever, and the shots are classy not smutty. Every photo looks hand-picked with the finest of quality, almost all photos are female nudes, some with couples, some with props or backgrounds... but nothing looks the same. There are many poses, many closeups and zooms, a lot of things from far away, georgous shadows and lighting, and some of it is just mindblowing. My particular favorites:
* page 179 a naked woman handcuffed squatting with her back shown to us with a cop car in front of her - all you see is her back, the handcuffs, and the cop lights and the outline of her body... and even though there is very little detail, you can SEE how perfect the photo is and it has much emotion in it. * page 174 an aerial shot of a nude woman lying in the middle of railroad tracks as if she had been dumped... very very emotional photo * page 163 just one of a selection of bizarre photos that leave you staring at the photo both impressive and eyebrow-raising * page 377 a nude girl smoking a cigarette by the window and her eyes are just PIERCING you with her hands covering her face... I could go on and on, each page (all pages feel glossy) has a huge photo and all the pictures are classy. This is pure erotic art. There are no open crotch shots. There is full nudity, but not one photo looks like porn. Each photographer is given a couple paragraphs describing him/her and then that photographer displays their work. There is not a lot of writing in this book, which I like. It is just art art art lots of beautiful photographs that just are wonderful! I highly recommend this book above all others. I have many books and this one just outdoes them all!
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