Rating: 
Summary: Gorgeous New Dimensions to Underwater Photography!
Review: Review Summary: This book deserves more than five stars. Take the most talented dancers from the San Francisco ballet, give them special gossamer costumes for underwater, and see how their poses and moves soar in the relatively weightless space beneath the surface. The resulting color photographs capture exquisite forms, bubbles, reflections, and stressless arabesques. The photographs are done with a Nikonos RS camera and a Hasselblad underwater camera, lit by Balcar strobes. Viewer Caution: These images contain many nude photographs of men and women that would earn this material an R rating if it were found in a motion picture. All of the images evoke freeflowing, tasteful versions of classical poses for dancers and nudes. Review: Water Dance is one of the most original photography books I have ever seen. Most underwater images are of fairly still poses, while these are often dynamic in their movement. Mr. Schatz has also found many special effects that mimic mirror images, reflections on the surface of water, and bubbles caught in solid transparent objects. Flowing hair and costumes also serve to capture the undulations and movement in the water in ways that will remind you of the most delicate kites flying in the most gentle, steady breezes. The dancers themselves are in marvelous shape and seem to have adapted well to making leaps and pas de deux that would be impossible above the water. Those images are the most ethereal. The images are greatly enhanced by the special costumes designed to work well in the undulating world of underwater. Ms. Katita Waldo is clearly the dancer who has taken most naturally to this new medium, and you will be intrigued by her freedom of expression in these images. But many other dancers were able to achieve remarkable poses that were well photographed and reproduced in this wonderful book. Here are some of my favorites: Underwater Study #49 (Shannon Lilly); U.S. #229C (floating costume); U.S. #189 (Heather Nahser); U.S. #117 (Tiffany Heft and Nikolai Kabaniaev); U.S. #179 (Jessica Schatz and Heather Vaughn); U.S. #152 (Katita Waldo); U.S. #107 (Anastasia); U.S. #215 (Julian Montaner and Nicole Panone); U.S. #183 (Wendy Van Dyck); U.S. #130 (Katita Waldo); and U.S. #41 (Katita Waldo). I hope that someone will take this concept the next step and choreograph a whole underwater video featuring such beautiful dance sequences. After you finish marveling over these astonishing scenes, I suggest that you think about how your own work could be transformed by being moved into a medium in which it could operate with fewer constraints. What would glass blowing look like in outer space? How would writing change if it were dictated while roller blading? Extend the joy of life in as many ways as possible!
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary book of exceptional beauty and art!
Review: This book is a must for all lovers of dance, art, art noveau, photography, fairy tales and water spirits! I have never seen such real live works of art - studies in graceful movements and beauty. It is a modern depiction of the wonderful and beautiful nymphs, water spirits and meremaids - a visualization of all the fairy tales of beautiful spirits that dance in the water. H. Schatz shows that he respects his models, is a true professional photographer, who loves his work, and wonderful visual storyteller. If the troubles and the ugliness of the world threatens to invade you sanity, just pick up this book and enjoy its beauty. It will be soothing to you eyes and spirit. It is like fairy tales for adults! It will give you the strength to face the world, again.
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