Women

Rating:
Summary: Shake their hands
Review: Browsing through this book and see the photos of all the women in every page make me want to meet them and shake their hands one by one.

Rating:
Summary: I'm not Thomas, I'm his daughter, he used my computer to ord
Review: er from Amazon and Now His Name is Stuck on My Account

So much for a title.

Annie Leibovitz's book requires no words. Sorry, Susan, I didn't read your text. The best way to enjoy Annie's photos is to set aside your search for a defining message about women. There isn't one. Women are varied creatures just like the rest of humanity and nature.

Don't you just love looking at them? Don't wish you could get a closer look? Don't you wish the interesting one's would stand in just the right light so you could get a better look? Didn't you always think Hillary C. was beautiful, but you didn't know why?

Thank you Annie Leibovitz for taking the interesting women and standing them in a beautiful light and binding them in a huge book so we can stand and stare as long as we want.

Enough said.

Rating:
Summary: Image as Everywoman
Review: Fiction is my preference when writing book reviews, because I love the complexity of words, stories, and the vagaries of human nature with its endless permutations. But when I received Leibovitz's astonishing compilation of photographs as a gift, I thought I might attempt an impression of page after page of females, as seen through the professional eye of one of the most important photographers of our generation.

Who has not gazed in awe at Leibovitz's unusual perspective, the beautiful made even more so? But I want real women with wrinkles and dirt under their fingernails, the kind of women overlooked in the rush to worship human perfection. I want to see if there is a balance, not just the too thin, too gorgeous, too self-indulgent. In that regard, I believe Women contains a preponderance of well-groomed elegance, albeit impressive, for instance a breathtaking portrait of Gwyneth Paltrow and her mother, Blythe Danner. This particular image contrasts a young woman in the blush of her feminine power with the graceful progression of years that adds to a woman's complex attraction. To be sure, there are folios of celebrities, socialites, all those who live in the rarified strata of entitlement.

While not as numerous, the presentation of real women like me, those who inhabit my world, are so powerful as to diminish the bland compositions of society's darlings. The studies of abused women jump off the pages, eyes glazed, the immediacy of domestic violence tattooing their faces, staring into a future devoid of hope; a remarkably insightful photograph of Ellen DeGeneris, virtually unrecognizable under a layer of cracked white greasepaint; two pre-adolescent girls in the back of a pickup truck, displaying a row of leggy blonde Barbie's, with Ken in a faux high school letter jacket, his plastic Prom Queen sporting a crown atop hair that cascades down the length of her body; three young Latino women glare accusingly at the lens, displaying gang colors with pride, ambiguously dangerous; the lines of age score lived-in faces, eyes shadowed by years of struggle, etched finally by the exhaustion of daily survival. For me, these pictures contain the essence of womanhood, untainted by ubiquitous vanities.

In all, Leibovitz "sees" these women, their strengths, frailties and vulnerabilities. This series of images is a walk through the multi-hued, textured world of women, esoteric, generous, often brutally honest and unflinching. Luan Gaines/2004.

Rating:
Summary: Worth looking through
Review: I have owned this book for a couple of years now, and it still sits on my coffee table. (This coming from someone who holds a bacholor of fine arts degree and a minor in art history and an almost-minor in photography). This book has clarity in its thesis of women from differing backgrounds and walks of life, while still holding to the tether that regardless of status, there's a common sense of self to those photographed. It's also a good sized book, so if this happens to be on sale, snap it up. It's always enamored any who has looked through it in my livingroom.

Rating:
Summary: Just a name
Review: I loved the book "Women," this book not only gave information on what all these amazing women do for a living, but it showed the pictures of them at work. A lovely tribute to WOMEN all over the world!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful wonderful
Review: I loved this book. It made me feel like a real woman.

Rating:
Summary: A surprise treat
Review: I was browsing through a bookstore, waiting for my kids to get done with Boy Scouts, not looking for anything in particular, when I spied "Women" on a shelf near an easy chair. The plain cover of this large book intrigued me so I started to skim through the book. After about a minute, I sat down and spent 45 more minutes going through the book, page by page. I had never heard of the book and only vaguely know the authors from popular culture, but I'm hooked now. As a busy working mother I don't usually have the time to spend enjoying fine art, photography, or coffee table books. I have to say that this is an inspiring piece of work that had me so engaged in some of the photos that I conjured up my own life stories for these women in my mind and thought about what their real life is like, how to meet them, etc. Annie's photographs really spoke to me.

I heartily recommend this book -- it's food for the soul. I only regret that I paid so much for the book that night (I had to give it to my best friend the next day).

Rating:
Summary: Disturbingly Beautiful
Review: There are a wide variety of women represented in this book, a cross section of society, photographed with the unique eye of the great Annie Lebovitz. There are the typically beautiful celebrities, average women on the street, and even a naked, bearded lady. Nothing about this collection is boring, and every page reveals something new. Annie Lebovitz is not afraid to take chances with her subject matter, and it shows. She is not the typical celebrity photographer, having gotten her start in rock and roll. This book celebrates women in all forms and stations in life, and is an absolute delight.

Rating:
Summary: A moving and exceptional book
Review: This is definately my favorite book, and one I enjoy giving to special women friends. Annie Leibowitz has managed to capture the full spectrum of women, from the subdued and simple to the succesful and sophisticated. It is a moving book and a celebration to women's individuality and uniqueness. I warmly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: An Aesthetic Masterpiece
Review: Through her incredibly artistic photos, Leibovitz depicts women from all walks of life in a truly stunning fashion. The wrinkles and sagging skin in the photographs must not perceived as ugly, but rather as badges of honor. Leibovitz does a commendable job of photographing all types of women, whether they be thin or fat, ugly or beautiful, all of the photos are truly works of art. I highly recommend this book to anyone who can appreciate an array of aesthetics.