By: David Hamilton Publisher: Aurum Press Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Aurum Press Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 220 Publication Date: February 01, 1992
In the Beauty of young human beings, lies the hope of the world. Those photographs are like classical music. Some people are afraid of the power glowing from the portrets , and start a witch hunt. Don't do it. Never lose an opportunity to seen anything that is beautiful: For beauty is God's handwriting.(R W Emerson)
Ferdinand Huismans.
Self-Censorship from the land with no First Amendment Doubtless going to rattle a few cages here, on *both* sides: the people who consider his stuff impermissibly naughty, and the people who wax rhapsodic about this particular work. But it has to be said.
Britain, the land that pioneered imprisonment without charge before we did, the land that criminalizes self-defense against burglars in your own home, is also the land without a First Amendment; and this has seemingly scared Mr. Hamilton into self-censoring and mutilating his own product. This is a first-rank tragedy, as he is arguably the best-known and most highly respected photographer of this entire genre, and therefore the most likely to prevail in a frontal assault against the philistinism which equates nude photography with pornography.
Instead, however, he has in this volume essentially raised the white flag and abandoned *nude* photography in favor of topless photos which won't arouse the ire of the British police. An astonishing number of his photos are awkwardly cropped for legal, rather than aesthetic reasons, so what was clearly shot as an integral figure study gets published as an amputated torso. This phenomenon was *not* present in his early works, including his films and his photos for the Spanish edition of "Playboy"--it manifested itself only when the world got uniquely psychotic about "child pornography".
Even in the USA, where a 17-year-old Marine who carries a machine gun for a living can be considered a "child" if photographed wrongly, Sally Mann and Jock Sturges haven't thrown in the towel (or draped the model in it ;-). Nor, of course has Bourboulon or Ionesco.
So I say: Boycott! The guy's got a right to protect his hide, of course, and even Galileo recanted when the Inquisition threatened to murder him for saying the Earth goes around the Sun. But would you spend your money on a book that says it's the other way around?
As complex as its subjects This is possibly the most beautiful set of photo portraits I've ever seen. Like the subjects, though, the beauty has a scary side to it.
There's a lot more to say. The pictures are intense, and more intense as a collection. I'm sure everyone who sees it will have more to say, and everyone will say something different. For that matter, I could discuss this in three or four contradictory ways. This time, I prefer to let the pictures speak for themselves and to let the readers form opinions of their own.
Beautiful Subjects Physical beauty is something that we have for only a brief period in our lives. It is a temporary stage during our lifespan. Unfortunately, we discourage young women from sharing their physical beauty with others who can appreciate it. It really is quite a shame that we try to enforce modesty. David Hamilton gave us this gift so that we may be able to share his admiration for the young, female physique. I am grateful to the young subjects, who were gracious enough to share their beauty with us.
This is a remarkable book. It is obvious that David Hamilton is very passionate about his subjects. He has taken his appreciation and admiration for young women and shared that enthusiasm with the world. I highly recommend this book.
Barely Misses the Mark If I could have rated this book 4 1/2 or 4 3/4 stars I would have. It certainly is a beautiful artistic endeavor. However, it fails the mark of perfection because of a few (VERY FEW) photos that are too suggestive for girls of their age, and a few comments by the author that would seem to provoke dangerously misleading thoughts in the minds of young people who might get their hands on this book. As the step-dad of a teenage girl I have experienced first-hand the confusion of an easily influenced child, who lacks the full capacity to reason and misperceives what she has seen and heard. Too many (pre-teen and teen) children think they are supposed to be sexually active, and there are certainly a few paragraphs and photos in this book that would help contribute to that pattern of thought. There is some mild homosexual content in a few frames and some of the writings. Otherwise this is a finely crafted work.
Many of the photos are soft, muted, elegant, and almost dream-like, while others are sharp and rich in color and contrast. There are full figure studies and a variety of portraits. Some of the girls look confused, content, generally happy, thrilled, curious, and some disgusted. Unlike similar works by other photographers, the majority of the models do not appear to be emotionless, melancholy, or tormented. There are no portrayals of violence or mishap. The quotes from classic poetry are at times provocative but still tasteful and refreshing, especially if you are one who enjoys traditional Western European poetry. The author/photographer makes several attempts at poetic verse but they do not work so well.
I do realize that the entire theme of The Age of Innocence is the psychological tumult experienced by young girls who are approaching womanhood, so the sexual element does have to be "taken with a grain of salt." As an artist and photographer I do highly recommend this book and treasure my own copy, but I strongly suggest caution when selecting an audience to share it with; teenage boys are not a proper audience.
Overall this is quite a clean representation--with a few exceptions--of the human form and psychology of young women.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
