X-Ray

Rating:
Summary: Great Makeup, ok pictures
Review: After looking at the amazing photographs in X-Ray, I wanted more, the book is awesome and the pictures vary vastly from page to page. I have two words for you Pure Talent!

Rating:
Summary: An excellent example of the power of cosmetics.....
Review: Francois Nars' first collection of portraits is a fascinating "read"(there's only a few pages of text). The images, the fantasy, the creative process are what is important.

Nars photographs his subjects simply, against a white background in most cases, although some have more extensive set work. The emphasis is on the face and of course, the makeup. The makeup is, in a word, stunning. Nars mixes wild and fanciful theatrical makeup with more subdued, practical makeup. Understandably, the wild makeup makes a deeper impression, but the range of the makeup highlights Nars' skill. My particular favorites are Shalom Harlow as Snow White(though I've seen a less graphic version of the portrait where's she's simply showing her garter, not her panties), Susan Sarandon looking stunning in wearable, pretty makeup, and the picture of a performance artist in full-body makeup with wild wig and face. There is full frontal nudity in this book, but it is not portrayed in a sexual way. In fact, if anything, many of the subjects who are fully clothed are more sexual than the nude ones.

It's hard to judge Nars' caliber as a photographer. Are the photos stunning, or is it simply what the pictures are of that makes them so intriguing? It's a fine line, but the pictures are playful, attractive, and well thought out. The subjects are famous people, many presented in a new and different way then we've seen them before. I definitely would advise people to check it out.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent example of the power of cosmetics.....
Review: Francois Nars' first collection of portraits is a fascinating "read"(there's only a few pages of text). The images, the fantasy, the creative process are what is important.

Nars photographs his subjects simply, against a white background in most cases, although some have more extensive set work. The emphasis is on the face and of course, the makeup. The makeup is, in a word, stunning. Nars mixes wild and fanciful theatrical makeup with more subdued, practical makeup. Understandably, the wild makeup makes a deeper impression, but the range of the makeup highlights Nars' skill. My particular favorites are Shalom Harlow as Snow White(though I've seen a less graphic version of the portrait where's she's simply showing her garter, not her panties), Susan Sarandon looking stunning in wearable, pretty makeup, and the picture of a performance artist in full-body makeup with wild wig and face. There is full frontal nudity in this book, but it is not portrayed in a sexual way. In fact, if anything, many of the subjects who are fully clothed are more sexual than the nude ones.

It's hard to judge Nars' caliber as a photographer. Are the photos stunning, or is it simply what the pictures are of that makes them so intriguing? It's a fine line, but the pictures are playful, attractive, and well thought out. The subjects are famous people, many presented in a new and different way then we've seen them before. I definitely would advise people to check it out.

Rating:
Summary: What a way to enter the new millennium!
Review: Francois Nars' new book is superbly done. It is an exciting compilation of shocking and sedated images that bring the viewer into the depths of the mind of their maker. Nars introduces us to an alternate universe, where nothing is as it once was...the ordinary becomes extraordinary and the masks of what we have come to accept as fact are lifted. Such is the image of Rupaul, devoid of make up and glamour...in utterly stark simplicity and totally foreign to anything we have known him to be. This book is filled with famous faces and names, but each one has been changed to fit a different scope. The book itself is a conversation piece, a thing to be explored and revisited with the expectation of finding something new each time. It does not try to fool its viewers with flash and fancy, but rather acts as a tool to show us that things are not always as they seem.

Rating:
Summary: What a way to enter the new millennium!
Review: I discovered Francois Nar's book, X-Ray, two days ago, and I cannot stop thinking about it. There are really no in-between's with this book: you love it or you don't. In photography, I especially love good portraiture, and since, have liked portraits done in black-and-white. In X-Ray, Nars combines all my favorite loves: fashion, make-up, and personality-- in wonderful, vibrant COLOR!! A particular eye can appreciate the sequence of monographs, one by one: the full-face photo of Cindy Crawford au naturel! Every portrait is a surprise...And to think that Nars did the styling, make-up, and picture-taking himself makes this book all the more precious. This book can show us how big and small this world is, our differences and preferences and similarities. How we each have different sides to our personality, some more obvious than others.

Rating:
Summary: X - Ray
Review: This book is amazing. The subjects used are surreal. The effect Nars gives is futuristic and sexy. His portraits are spectacular. At first glance, the collection may seem overwhelming, but concentrating on each picture made the book very enjoyable to look at. I recommend this to any collection of photography books.

Rating:
Summary: X - Ray
Review: This book is amazing. The subjects used are surreal. The effect Nars gives is futuristic and sexy. His portraits are spectacular. At first glance, the collection may seem overwhelming, but concentrating on each picture made the book very enjoyable to look at. I recommend this to any collection of photography books.

Rating:
Summary: Its like he gave me my own own 300 person prints of his
Review: This book is great. The makeup is great the photography is great and the book printing is great. Its all pictures and no writing (only like a page) and there are something like 300 photographs from all different stlyes and all different people. Some full nudity but mostly the classic beast that the Europeans dont mind showing in advertisements. I loved this book. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: The best photographer since Robert Maplethorpe
Review: This is a large 11 x 15 book of portraits of 241 subjects. The book is attractively printed in Italy. There basically is little writing: a one page introduction by Andre Leon Talley and a one page end by Nars. It is in summary not a thing of beauty but a freak show. The makeup looks like circus grease paint. Nars writes: "Though I worked for years with some of photography's greatest artists, I never planned to be a photographer. It happened naturally when I started my makeup line in 1994 and needed to create an image for the product. Having no budget for a star photographer, I decided to do it myself." Big mistake. Nars should have remained a makeup artist. His idea of portraiture is white backgrounds and light tent even lighting which really is product photography lighting. Models like Karen Elson who appears in the Nars catalogue are shown in unattractive poses sucking on a cigarette and looking plain. Joceyln Wildenstein is a subject next to a model dressed up as little red ridding hood. There is a particular attraction to head on full frontal male nudity. Grace Jones is shown grabbing her crotch. Smokey eye makeup is highlighted on the boys. And a young teen "school girl" is shown suggestively in lingerie. It is hard for me to believe that the majority of purchasers of Nars' makeup would want to look like the images in this book and I find the release of this book ironic at the same time Nars has a national magazine highlighting his digital makeovers. This is definitely an "adult" book with images some may find offensive.