Badlands

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Erotic
Review: A great trip through the world of body art and alternate female sexuality. Includes a retrospective of his early work in Greenwich Village. My favorites are the women of San Fransisco, some of them hauntingly beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Erotic
Review: A great trip through the world of body art and alternate female sexuality. Includes a retrospective of his early work in Greenwich Village. My favorites are the women of San Fransisco, some of them hauntingly beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: Work is either hit or miss though varied greatly in scope
Review: Chuck Gatewood has been one of the principle documentors of the social and sexual "fringes." By and large, he's the guy that goes to "mysterious" places that you, yourself wouldn't know about to photograph some fairly "strange" people who do "dirty" things to themselves and each other. For some time now he has provided many a glimpse into a world that is unknown to most, and allowed his audience to view this odd, insatiable world at a "safe" distance within the context of "art."

"Badlands" is an anthology which means it's like the Frito-Lay Variety Pack of Gatewood's work. SOME of it I find to be utterly compelling, visceral, provocative and sublime. And SOME of it I find to be downright contrived, silly, reactionary and obvious. (Sometimes he, as well as the people he photographs leave an impression of just trying too damn hard to freak-out the "normal" people. "Look at me! I'm sooooo BAD!!!")

In all honesty, I bought this book because I used to date the girl on the cover. The idea of taking this book off the shelf and being able to say, "See her? I DATED her! She's NUTS!" appealed to me. And I have a few other friends contained within its' pages. Otherwise I would have skipped it. But you should buy it because it's not a bad book.

Rating:
Summary: Work is either hit or miss though varied greatly in scope
Review: Chuck Gatewood has been one of the principle documentors of the social and sexual "fringes." By and large, he's the guy that goes to "mysterious" places that you, yourself wouldn't know about to photograph some fairly "strange" people who do "dirty" things to themselves and each other. For some time now he has provided many a glimpse into a world that is unknown to most, and allowed his audience to view this odd, insatiable world at a "safe" distance within the context of "art."

"Badlands" is an anthology which means it's like the Frito-Lay Variety Pack of Gatewood's work. SOME of it I find to be utterly compelling, visceral, provocative and sublime. And SOME of it I find to be downright contrived, silly, reactionary and obvious. (Sometimes he, as well as the people he photographs leave an impression of just trying too damn hard to freak-out the "normal" people. "Look at me! I'm sooooo BAD!!!")

In all honesty, I bought this book because I used to date the girl on the cover. The idea of taking this book off the shelf and being able to say, "See her? I DATED her! She's NUTS!" appealed to me. And I have a few other friends contained within its' pages. Otherwise I would have skipped it. But you should buy it because it's not a bad book.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting Images: work of art
Review: Each photo in this book speaks "A thousand words". From the classic photo of Bob Dylan to the hauntingly beautiful raven haired "vampire" beauty on page 418. This book also expresses a tongue-n-cheek sence of humor. It is reminiscent of the Weimar Rebublic of the 1920's. A brigade of debauchery! A collection of social history and sexual diversity. It tells a story of people who need not ask for appologies or excuses.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting Images: work of art
Review: Each photo in this book speaks "A thousand words". From the classic photo of Bob Dylan to the hauntingly beautiful raven haired "vampire" beauty on page 418. This book also expresses a tongue-n-cheek sence of humor. It is reminiscent of the Weimar Rebublic of the 1920's. A brigade of debauchery! A collection of social history and sexual diversity. It tells a story of people who need not ask for appologies or excuses.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent photographs for the non-squeamish
Review: Gatewood's pictures are not for those with weak stomachs, but the subjects are fascinating. I especially enjoyed the sections on piercing, tattoos, and modern primitives, although its not about to make me rush out to get myself tattooed or pierced. Certainly I'll be haunted by his pictures whenever I see a fish hook in the future.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting Images: work of art
Review: With this book Gatewood proves himself to be the undisputed master of documenting America's often perverse alternative counterculture. This book is a mixture of cultural anthropology, daring photojournalism, and cutting-edge erotica. It is a retrospective of his work, beginning with early '60s portraits of Bob Dylan, Alan Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs; then takes us through the sexual puberty of New York City in the '70s, it's undoing in Wall Street in the '80s, and brings us into the present with beautiful and haunting photos of the freaks of San Francisco, New York, and LA: e.g. "slave kas" is seen in '90s San Francisco, an eerie but inviting grin on her face as she pulls off her tight vinyl corsette, highlighted by a heart painted on her pierced breasts with blood. This book is a glimpse, nay, so well done, an invitation to a world that few of us ever get to see. This is a conversation starter for sure, and an enduring and timeless book of art.

Rating:
Summary: Provacative, intelligent, beautiful, crazy, sexy, fun.
Review: With this book Gatewood proves himself to be the undisputed master of documenting America's often perverse alternative counterculture. This book is a mixture of cultural anthropology, daring photojournalism, and cutting-edge erotica. It is a retrospective of his work, beginning with early '60s portraits of Bob Dylan, Alan Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs; then takes us through the sexual puberty of New York City in the '70s, it's undoing in Wall Street in the '80s, and brings us into the present with beautiful and haunting photos of the freaks of San Francisco, New York, and LA: e.g. "slave kas" is seen in '90s San Francisco, an eerie but inviting grin on her face as she pulls off her tight vinyl corsette, highlighted by a heart painted on her pierced breasts with blood. This book is a glimpse, nay, so well done, an invitation to a world that few of us ever get to see. This is a conversation starter for sure, and an enduring and timeless book of art.