A Place in the Sun

Rating:
Summary: Exotic sights of imagination.
Review: At first glance the youthful pictures take away from the flow of the essay. Then it comes together. This is a testament to Hamilton's artistry. He is rightfully called an arist that paints with the eye, lens, and darkroom. What truly sets him apart from other photographers, such as Sturges, is that he captures personality. One shows nudity as dull, while the other, brings charm and grace that quickens the pulse, not dulls the senses. Erotic is not in this book, but a dream-like reality that brings back better times. Not to dwell on, but to enjoy at ones older time.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as his Age of Innocence
Review: Be warned: unlike The Age of Innocence, two-thirds of this book consists of landscapes. If it's sea and clouds you want (with no humans in the picture), buy this. If it's beautiful girls you want, get his other books.

Rating:
Summary: Hamilton returns to His Place in the Sun with grace.
Review: David Hamilton has "renewed" his Place in the Sun with this wonderful collection of photographs that inspired many visual artists throughout the 70's and 80's. This book relocates Hamilton back on the Top 20 Lists of International Photographic Artists. His portraits of friends, visual still lifes, and his classic modeling of the nude reminds us of Hamilton's place in our visual influence.

Rating:
Summary: The "Perfect" Hamilton book for your coffee table!
Review: David Hamilton is perhaps the most talented photographer in the world... This volume is proof. While his other US releases, "The Age of Innocence" and "Twenty-Five Years of an Artist" focus almost entirely upon his obsession with nude girls between the ages of 12-18, "A Place in the Sun" incorporates the beauty of a young girl into the larger, greater beauty of the tropics; Making the beauty of her nude physical form into just one part of the whole of the surrounding beauty of the water, the sky, the beach, and the flora and fauna of the environment of which she is a part. This book is a true journey into fantasy! The topless girl standing on the beach looking out to sea on page 44, the single cloud over the Bali sea on page 104, the peaceful young goddess sleeping in the hammock on page 46... These pictures alone would be with the price.

This is THE most beautiful photography book I have ever seen, and far less controversial than his other US releases... Buy this book. It will one day be a collectors item.

Rating:
Summary: Purity and light captured in the lush beauty of the tropics.
Review: In an age that has gone terribly wrong, Hamilton is a visionary who still understands that the beauty of children, a subject celebrated and explored throughout the ages since ancient times, must remain a focal point for photographer and artist alike.

Rating:
Summary: How to make a boring picture
Review: Pretty amazing -- David Hamilton takes some pictures of some very attractive subjects, in extremely attractive backgrounds, with extremely expensive equipment, and manages to make them look worse than the worst of my holiday photos. Boring, self-conscious... basically, not worth a look. If you like the subject matter, I highly recommend Jock Sturges (for some very laid-back, pretty pictures) or Sally Mann (for some slightly more disturbing overtones.) But skip Hamilton, he's a waste of paper

Rating:
Summary: An amazing journey through Heaven on Earth.
Review: This book contains a variety of beautiful pictures of various things, from deserted beaches, to storm-encroached seas, to even a mule! It also has some excellent photos of young girls, some of which are extraordinary in their perfection of beauty and their playful attitude toward life. I would say there are 10 to 20 photos of beautiful girls in this book. They are well worth the asking price of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful girls in the nude
Review: This book contains a variety of beautiful pictures of various things, from deserted beaches, to storm-encroached seas, to even a mule! It also has some excellent photos of young girls, some of which are extraordinary in their perfection of beauty and their playful attitude toward life. I would say there are 10 to 20 photos of beautiful girls in this book. They are well worth the asking price of the book.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing journey through Heaven on Earth.
Review: This book is absolutely brimming with gorgeous pictures. I bought it the minute I finished looking at it for the first time four years ago. All photographs are tastefully done and convey a sense of wonder at what God has put here on this earth for us all to enjoy. You absolutely have to have this book!!!! It is stunning!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Rehash of trite commercial images
Review: This collection of Hamilton's work contains bland landscape photography that would fit the formulas of the Sierra Club desk calender; bland images of young girls in the same poses we've seen dozens of times in his other work, saying nothing new and with all the personality of a jeans ad; and self-conscious photos of some Beautiful People that look like they were intended for ads in a fashion magazine. Of course, none of this should be surprising considering that most of Hamilton's work is blatantly commercial and self-indulgent, but some of his earlier books -- Sisters, Private Collection, and so on -- contained genuinely unique, well-composed, and evocative pictures. (Age of Innocence was as boring to me as this book.) The only images that worked for me in Place in the Sun were the photos of flowers, which are very pretty. Seeing one photo of a "native" couple titled "The Noble Savage," and another of a young woman holding handfuls of fruit at crotch level titled "The Fruits of Love" (or something similar) gave me a laugh. For some reason, Hamilton has never gotten over his addiction to silly quotes and captions that cheapen his images. I would certainly prefer that he let them speak for themselves, but then the viewer might have a chance to experience his own response to them, rather than being directed by Hamilton to Hamilton's own narcissistic fantasy.