Euros 01

Rating:
Summary: Clifford Baker loves cliches
Review: Clifford Baker in yet another small format series book showcases models we are familiar with and a few that are unfamiliar - all tightly wrapped in photographic cliches. Baker is someone who might want to consider spending a little time reviewing what other photographers are up to before publishing yet another predictable book like this one. As hard as I try to keep an open mind, I find that Baker is, like many Californian photographers, in need of a major wake-up call. San Francisco or Hollywood is not where cutting edge photography is coming from these days.

Baker has one thing that works for him, gay men will spend money on this material and think of it as art, but in retrospect I would much rather refer anyone, gay or straight to photographers such as Bruce Weber, Stephen Meisel, Peter Lindbergh, or the constantly impressionistic David LaChappel. If you research some of these photographers books on Amazon, you will find that they might be more costly, but in my opinion, well worth the investment.

Rating:
Summary: Where to Begin..................
Review: This is the first in a series of small format books put out by Bruno Gmunder that eventually grew to total 17 books showcasing the new male nude photographers. Some more well know than others. This first book of Clifford Baker's photography was not the most impressive in the series. These are black & white images of very muscular young men, mostly nude. Many of the models are very handsome & certainly pleasant to look at. However, I had one problem with the all of these images and that is they all too posed. There isn't much feeling or emotion coming out of these photographs. The camera should bring these models to life, it fails in this respect. Most are shot outdoors in awkward situations.

I think this is a good representation of Clifford Baker's work, and with all due respect, you either like his work or you don't. If you're a collector like I am than you certainly should have this first book of the series in your collection. If you're buying is limited check out the other 16 books before you decide on this one.

Rating:
Summary: Where to Begin..................
Review: This is the first in a series of small format books put out by Bruno Gmunder that eventually grew to total 17 books showcasing the new male nude photographers. Some more well know than others. This first book of Clifford Baker's photography was not the most impressive in the series. These are black & white images of very muscular young men, mostly nude. Many of the models are very handsome & certainly pleasant to look at. However, I had one problem with the all of these images and that is they all too posed. There isn't much feeling or emotion coming out of these photographs. The camera should bring these models to life, it fails in this respect. Most are shot outdoors in awkward situations.

I think this is a good representation of Clifford Baker's work, and with all due respect, you either like his work or you don't. If you're a collector like I am than you certainly should have this first book of the series in your collection. If you're buying is limited check out the other 16 books before you decide on this one.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre work!
Review: Unless you are a big fan of Clifford Baker's work,I really see no reason why you should buy this book.I bought it,because I liked the guy on the front cover.But,to my dismay,this was the only photo of him in the book.Even worse,his picture was the best in the whole collection!Appart from very few (though notable) exceptions the rest of the material was almost boring.I thought that reading Egbert Hoermann's comments at the end of the book would help me understand and appreciate Baker's work.Far from it!Hoermann claims that Baker's "seemingly unstaged" photographs try to reconcile civilization with nature.On the contrary,the photos seemed overstaged to me,and the models (with their tough street-smart looks) gave me the impression of being in complete contrast with the natural settings Baker uses.For example,there is an image of a long-haired guy sunbathing beneath a glorious sky.Well,the photo is a poor use of both the sky's and the blond youth's beauty!The young man looks like he just came out of a Hollywood beauty salon (perfect hair,perfect skin) and hardly like someone relaxing after frolicing in the sun.Overall,Euros #01 greatly disappointed me and I would not recommend it.Try finding something better to buy.It won't be difficult at all!