Rating: 
Summary: "This is the Age of Revelation"
Review: The genius of David Hamilton is all too often overlooked. Too many people concentrate on the so-called "audacity" of his photographic subjects, and too few on his actual artistic method.His photographs are mesmerizing. In "The Age of Innocence", he captures in an instant what every man spends half his life trying to accomplish. Needless to say, however, Mr. Hamilton is an artist ahead of his time, and it will take some time for popular opinion to reflect that. However, Mr. Hamilton's true genius is not reflected in his photographs alone; it is his singularly masterful combination of literature and artistic form that make "The Age of Innocence" the most insightful and absorbing book I have _read_ in many, many years. To put it simply, you will not -- not ever -- regret buying this collection. This is the sort of book one wishes more people could understand; it is the kind of book that one will continue to read, admire and think about for the rest of one's life. When I read these reviews before buying my copy, I found that they all seemed somewhat vague. This is because the nature of Mr. Hamilton's work is simply too difficult to put into words. Just think, however, about how good a book has to be to force so many people to come back online and spend time writing about it. This work has no equal.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Subjects
Review: Physical beauty is something that we have for only a brief period in our lives. It is a temporary stage during our lifespan. Unfortunately, we discourage young women from sharing their physical beauty with others who can appreciate it. It really is quite a shame that we try to enforce modesty. David Hamilton gave us this gift so that we may be able to share his admiration for the young, female physique. I am grateful to the young subjects, who were gracious enough to share their beauty with us. This is a remarkable book. It is obvious that David Hamilton is very passionate about his subjects. He has taken his appreciation and admiration for young women and shared that enthusiasm with the world. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Barely Misses the Mark
Review: If I could have rated this book 4 1/2 or 4 3/4 stars I would have. It certainly is a beautiful artistic endeavor. However, it fails the mark of perfection because of a few (VERY FEW) photos that are too suggestive for girls of their age, and a few comments by the author that would seem to provoke dangerously misleading thoughts in the minds of young people who might get their hands on this book. As the step-dad of a teenage girl I have experienced first-hand the confusion of an easily influenced child, who lacks the full capacity to reason and misperceives what she has seen and heard. Too many (pre-teen and teen) children think they are supposed to be sexually active, and there are certainly a few paragraphs and photos in this book that would help contribute to that pattern of thought. There is some mild homosexual content in a few frames and some of the writings. Otherwise this is a finely crafted work.
Many of the photos are soft, muted, elegant, and almost dream-like, while others are sharp and rich in color and contrast. There are full figure studies and a variety of portraits. Some of the girls look confused, content, generally happy, thrilled, curious, and some disgusted. Unlike similar works by other photographers, the majority of the models do not appear to be emotionless, melancholy, or tormented. There are no portrayals of violence or mishap. The quotes from classic poetry are at times provocative but still tasteful and refreshing, especially if you are one who enjoys traditional Western European poetry. The author/photographer makes several attempts at poetic verse but they do not work so well.
I do realize that the entire theme of The Age of Innocence is the psychological tumult experienced by young girls who are approaching womanhood, so the sexual element does have to be "taken with a grain of salt." As an artist and photographer I do highly recommend this book and treasure my own copy, but I strongly suggest caution when selecting an audience to share it with; teenage boys are not a proper audience.
Overall this is quite a clean representation--with a few exceptions--of the human form and psychology of young women.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: David Hamilton has done it again. This is by far my favorite album of his to date. Once again, this album is filled with absolutly beautiful soft focused images of the changing female body.
Probably my favorite part of this book is that most of it is in color which is different from "25 years". The pastels used in all the photos again bring out the feeling of innocence with these young beauties that Hamilton loves so much.
This book is published by the same company that did "25 years" so the two books go great with each other. This one is a little bit thinner which is a little downfall because you fall in love with Hamiltons photographs so easy that you dont want to stop browsing through them.
Although some people may find the work in this book and Hamiltons other books a little disturbing, I have yet to find one person that has found his works bad. Because of this, I am happy to display this on my coffee table for all visitors of all ages to look through. Ladies and Gentlemen, Dont miss this book. Hamilton is getting older now, and soon these books will be very hard to get, and very very expensive. Even though 50 dollars seems steep, suck it up and fork it out for this or any of his other works. You will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Unabashed Intentions
Review: What better subject for a talented artist to explore than the beauty of youth. As usual, Hamilton, presents his subject in a compelling and idyllic fashion. I also just recommended the Rituals of Summer DVD at Amazon for the Hamilton enthusiast. Perhaps Hamilton will follow the lead and create DVDs from his numerous video titles.
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