X'Mas

Rating:
Summary: Colour Extravagansa
Review: The first thing that struck me about this book was the incredible use of colour. It could be suggested that the use of colour is almost too extreme in some of the photo's, but I think perhaps that was the desired affect... and it worked really well. I bought A Room in the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt (a previous Bettina Rheims release), and although I enjoyed it, it left me craving for a little more. X'mas provided that with several really nice shots. Interestingly, the photos played a lot on what was in the background, with the model seemingly "stuck on", as if they were playing the part in some kind of production. All in all, I found it a most enjoyable book, and a good account of some of what Bettina Rheims has to offer.

Rating:
Summary: Naked go-sees, or a deer in the headlights
Review: When art directors want to find a model, or a bunch of models, they'll call an agency, "We're looking for an executive type with gray hair" they say and the agency calls wannabes like me to run to a "go-see". I'd go, the art director saw me and my gray hair. "Stand on the x on the floor and we'll shoot a Polaroid and a couple of test shots." I'd get about 6 seconds to compose myself and FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! it was over. They'd hire somebody else. Dang. You get the idea. Go-sees take practice, otherwise the aspiring model looks like a deer caught in the headlights, dumbfounded, as inexperienced models often are. X'mas is a whole book full of such pictures. Girl models, nude or with baggy, soiled, homely undies, slightly askew or conspicuously disheveled, some girls have a bustline, many don't, all appear as if they were waiting on the photo set for the photographer to say "Smile" or give some other indication it's time to take a picture. FLASH! "OK, dear, thanks. We'll let you know. Who's next?" Only Rosemary Bartilla seems to react, and she's absolutely glowering. Teen anger, teen anger, I can just hear Rosemary gnashing her teeth -- "This is stupid!" she's thinking. And she's right. X'mas is cynical drivel -- not "decisive moments" but a string of klutzy, vacant moments -- from a photographer who has done enormously more interesting work. The photo technique is consistent with Rheims's Chambre Close with the addition of some filter/gel effects and the use of a rear-projection screen, and the indoor sets have the same color and style sense.

Rating:
Summary: Naked go-sees, or a deer in the headlights
Review: When art directors want to find a model, or a bunch of models, they'll call an agency, "We're looking for an executive type with gray hair" they say and the agency calls wannabes like me to run to a "go-see". I'd go, the art director saw me and my gray hair. "Stand on the x on the floor and we'll shoot a Polaroid and a couple of test shots." I'd get about 6 seconds to compose myself and FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! it was over. They'd hire somebody else. Dang. You get the idea. Go-sees take practice, otherwise the aspiring model looks like a deer caught in the headlights, dumbfounded, as inexperienced models often are. X'mas is a whole book full of such pictures. Girl models, nude or with baggy, soiled, homely undies, slightly askew or conspicuously disheveled, some girls have a bustline, many don't, all appear as if they were waiting on the photo set for the photographer to say "Smile" or give some other indication it's time to take a picture. FLASH! "OK, dear, thanks. We'll let you know. Who's next?" Only Rosemary Bartilla seems to react, and she's absolutely glowering. Teen anger, teen anger, I can just hear Rosemary gnashing her teeth -- "This is stupid!" she's thinking. And she's right. X'mas is cynical drivel -- not "decisive moments" but a string of klutzy, vacant moments -- from a photographer who has done enormously more interesting work. The photo technique is consistent with Rheims's Chambre Close with the addition of some filter/gel effects and the use of a rear-projection screen, and the indoor sets have the same color and style sense.

Rating:
Summary: For fans of David Hamilton, Richard Kern...
Review: Without sexualizing her subjects (ala Richard Kern*), Ms. Rheims still presents sexually powerful photographs of beautiful young women. The wife of photographer Jeanloup Sieff certainly has a different style than her husband, but they are two of the foremost photographers of feminine beauty to ever pick up a camera. A wonder to behold, this book. You flip the pages and view the photos horizontally. Every page contains another breathtakingly beautiful girl in, most of the time, humorous but powerful poses, and mostly undressed. I've always likened Bettina to be halfway between a Juergen Teller and a David LaChapelle. The faces and poses are fresh and natural, but there's always a hint of wackiness. You get the feeling there is a lot of laughter at her shoots. (I wonder if it's more comforting to be a woman posing for a woman?). If you like Ellen Unwerth, Jock Sturges, Fabio Cabral, Teller, Kern, Hamilton or Roversi, this should be up your alley.

*- (not that I'm complaining)

Rating:
Summary: For fans of David Hamilton, Richard Kern...
Review: Without sexualizing her subjects (ala Richard Kern*), Ms. Rheims still presents sexually powerful photographs of beautiful young women. The wife of photographer Jeanloup Sieff certainly has a different style than her husband, but they are two of the foremost photographers of feminine beauty to ever pick up a camera. A wonder to behold, this book. You flip the pages and view the photos horizontally. Every page contains another breathtakingly beautiful girl in, most of the time, humorous but powerful poses, and mostly undressed. I've always likened Bettina to be halfway between a Juergen Teller and a David LaChapelle. The faces and poses are fresh and natural, but there's always a hint of wackiness. You get the feeling there is a lot of laughter at her shoots. (I wonder if it's more comforting to be a woman posing for a woman?). If you like Ellen Unwerth, Jock Sturges, Fabio Cabral, Teller, Kern, Hamilton or Roversi, this should be up your alley.

*- (not that I'm complaining)