Stripped Naked

Rating:
Summary: Gorman reaches new heights with this work
Review: This is New York photographer Peter Gorman's third book. Just as Naked Rooms was a radically different project from his first book, Naked In Apartment 7, this new work is another departure for him. But this time the results are more mature in their result and set Gorman on an even higher artistic plain. Gone are the highly stylized setups that characterized his first book, and the fluid, documentary style that distinguished his second book is no longer in force here. What we have is a more stable body of work from an artist who appears to possess a stronger sense of himself, and who harnesses a greater command of his craft. Gorman admits to shooting more "from the hip" these days, and all this work was shot in the unknown terrain of his female subjects' own homes, where the lighting conditions were completely unpredictable. But the results are extraordinary, and are laced with a sense of precision not see in his previous works. The lighting, the surroundings, the girls themselves, all flow into a unified and potent ensemble of pictures that are distinctly erotic. These are not just nude portraits of attractive and interesting women - much of this work is blatantly erotic and the subjects all strut their stuff with ostentatious and confident abandon. These are sexual beings that are obviously quite comfortable sharing this aspect of themselves with Gorman. As Reed Massengill notes in the forward - this book is about art .. but it's also about titillation.