2 comments about Heroines.

1. Great book , encourages me to explore further my portraiture photography of women , Bettina Rheims raw honest expose of her models is refreshing and exciting!



2. Bettina Rheims' book "Heroines" is going back to Amazon. It is a high quality, elegant, color photo album full of craftfully created portraits of celebrity women who were set up to act distressed and decadent. The photographs are too explicitly stylized to believe that the models just came from a party, hungover and roughed up, their beautiful dresses torn and ripped from their bodies. Their expressions are hollow and hesitant, which leaves the viewer wondering if they understand what Rheims wants them to represent. Did she want to create a 60s European decadent look (such as the images of Monica Vitti and Anita Eckberg) where the subjects appear vulnerable and disillusioned with a sexual overtone? If so, I do not think she succeeded. Not even the forward, with Catherine Millet's well worded but not very enthusiastic review nor the reference to Lucien Freud helps to explain the artist's intent.

1 comments about The Infinite Rose.

1. Feinstein begins his book with a simple stated, beautiful written poem, The Infinite Rose. The poem invites you to "enter into the heart of hearts" to gaze at colorful blooms and buds, to stay awhile and enjoy their beauty. Expect to wander through the photographs of various roses time and time again. The beauty and color of Feinstein's choices look magnificent on the black backdrop. There is the gracefulness of a John F. Kennedy bud, the lusciousness of a Broadway bloom, the fabulous folds of a Masquerade. The Ice Berg bloom is one of my favorites.

   God must have created the rose to express love, because this emotion comes to mind when a rose is seen, sniffed or touched. Whether it's for yourself, your parents, your friends or your sweetheart, The Infinite Rose is a book to given and kept.

4 comments about Thru My Eyes: Thoughts on Tupac Shakur in Pictures and Words.

1. THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD BOOK. YOU REALLY GET TO GET INTO TUPAC HEAD AND SEE WHAT HE SAW AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BIT MORE OF WHO AND WHAT HE WAS ABOUT



2. I bought this book just to see what this book was about. This book should never been printed! Who puts out of focus photos in a book, has his lawyer put a review on this website raving about it and then sells it?! It's a disgrace to photography of any sort. This guy is just making money off 2Pac fans and laughing his way to the bank. You can download better stuff on the web. His storytelling is not fluid or sincere. Anyone can add made up stories to pictures. It's a joke!!!



3. I bought a copy and finished it by the end of the day; I didn't want to stop reading and
   discovering more. I had no idea Gobi shared such an intimate
   relationship with the fallen prince. I have the cds and Resurrection
   and other documentaries, but, honestly, this book was the first work
   that actually humanized 'Pac for me and painted him as a person. I
   think it was the first person perspective of a close colleague of his
   that made the piece very effective. I got choked up when Gobi
   described visiting him in the hospital. Congratulations. Very nice
   work.



4. I was given this book as a gift by a Tupac fan (I'm not a huge fan myself). However, as a music fan and someone who is interested in pop culture, I found the book to be engaging because of the descriptions that come with the photos. Gobi traveled with Tupac for a few years up to his death, and has great insight about this man who is deified by his fans. . . this book (Gobi is a huge fan himself) gives you some "under the surface" perspective about why people think so highly of Tupac. This book is as good as the Kurt Cobain "Letters" book. I would highly recommend to any music fan.

5 comments about Mei Mei?Little Sister: Portraits from a Chinese Orphanage.

1. We enjoyed the pictures of the girls. Glad that it was done in black and white. There are so many faces and expressions in the book - but its very hard to tell what they are truely thinking. We too have a "little sister" who's still in an orphanage in China. It would be a good book for those daughters that have already been found to have a book of portraits of their mei mei's who are still waiting for their forever families to find and come for them.



2. This book touches my soul every time I open it. I have adopted two girls from China and I see their reflections on every page.



3. We are in the process of adopting a baby from China, and this book just made my heart break. The images are so beautiful, and the children are so precious! In my mind, they seem to be simply be waiting... We can't wait to give one of them a home.



4. As an adoptive parent of a beautiful Chinese girl, I became extremely upset when I viewed these pictures. But by the grace of God, my daughter could have been featured in this book. That thought and the pictures of these children absolutely broke my heart. The pictures are beautiful but left me with a sense of helplessness because you can't save them all....although you want to. I returned the book because it was just too upsetting. I was torn between giving the book 5 stars because of the impact it has, but gave it 3 so someone might read this review and think twice about viewing it. It was not worth it for me.



5. I purchased this book for my wife as we have adopted a baby girl from China. While these photos are from a different orphanage, the impact is the same. We did not get to see all the children at our daughter's orphanage, and they don't allow photos of the kids anyway. I recommend this book for any adoptive parents of children from China, or those looking into it. I will warn you, you will want to go back for more.

5 comments about The Photographer's Toning Book: The Definitive Guide.

1. I have to admit that I have four of Tim's books and all of them are great. If you are interested in toning prints, this is a must for your library. The examples tell the story and text tells you how to do it. The sections about split toning are particularly nice. Also, if you ever have the chance to take a workshop or class from Tim, do it!



2. If you are a photographer, you need this book. Mr. Rudman is thorough, knowledgeable and complete on the subjects of toning and lith printing. A must for your darkroom.



3. this book is absolutely the best guide i have ever seen about archiving and toning photographs. Certainly told me many thing that i have been doing only so-so. This book is a MUST for serious phtograpers and great to know for the casual photo enthusiast.



4. I found this book very well written and informative. It covers a wide variety of toning techniques and covers archival processing thoroughly. I highly recommend this book for anyone who prints silver gelatin.



5. This is a great book, it has it all. You want to know anything about a tone and this book has it. I'm actually a second year photography student and found that this book explains things without going way over the top and getting far too technical. Recommended buy for people of all photographic experience.

No comments about Hamptons Pleasures.

1 comments about Matisse (World of Art).

1. Henri MATISSE's first success as an artist was his Paul Cezanne-type "La liseuse" still-life, with a brown and green flowered wallpaper pattern picked up as a cloth in his later "Nature morte a l'autoportrait." But his favorite painter was actually Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, as seen in the cool greys of his "Nature morte aux peches" and "Nature morte aux raisins" still-lifes. His still-life "Grande marine grise" springboarded the empty and symmetrical freedom of a Caspar David Friedrich landscape into the Piet Mondrian-styled beaches of modern art. In fact, much of the rest of his work had a part in how twentieth-century art, with its concern over color, turned out: "La coiffure," with its enormous hanging arm from Michelangelo's "Night" figure clasping hand to head, for a modern art growing out of twentieth-century anxieties; "Collioure" series, with figures recognizable from flat colors and with meadows dyed red against green, for a dazzling light from a Eugene Delacroix-type greatest outburst of opposing colors; "Le compotier" creating, not imitating, life by giving up color as description for Japanese print-type color as expression; "La desserte" showing dark tones coloring more brilliantly than light; "Homme nu," as an Auguste Rodin-type striding figure, taking one side in the twentieth-century artistic question over form holding its own edges against color or shaping from spreading color, as in "Bronze et fruit" still-life and his Paul Gauguin-type "Nu assis" figure almost lost against the arbitrarily patterned sunlight; "Interieur au rideau Egyptien" and "L'interieur rouge" finalizing Fauvism by energizing light and uniting picture parts; "Lecon de piano," as his masterpiece experiment abstracting garden greens and room colors; "Luxe, calme et volupte" escaping into the grandly simple Cezanne style of "Trois baigneuses" and leading into Symbolism; "Madame de Matisse," as a specific person in an alertly balanced pose, just by a Constantin Brancusi-type sculptured eyebrow and nose against blue sending off grey for the curved shaping of her head, for Amedeo Modigliani's and twentieth-century art's figures directly shown as being physical presences and filling human roles; "Nature morte, Seville" riotously patterning color; "Le reve" balancing field and figure, in-between areas and physical presence in pink arabesquing against blue; "La serpentine" collecting light along arabesqued thick lower legs and thin thighs into a separately modelled physical effect, as later seen in his own "Jeannette" busts and in Pablo Picasso; "Le the," with a Cubist-type head for his daughter Marguerite; and "Vue de St Tropez" landscaping Paul Signac-type energetically brushstroked color. So, through appropriately chosen illustrations and carefully organized text, the author leaves us on excellent terms with what Matisse did for art: I particularly like the attention that Lawrence Gowing gives to the cut-paper works, such as "La danse" and "Le rouge et le noir," and to the Vence chapel stained glass, as special favorites for my sculptress mother and artist sister. Unfortunately, the book is now out-of-print: so any readers not tracking down a stray copy might want to look into MATISSE: THE WONDER OF COLOR by Xavier Girard, HENRI MATISSE: CUT-OUTS ALBUM, HENRI MATISSE: THE VENCE CHAPEL, and MATISSE IN TAHITI by Paule Laudon.

3 comments about Urban Photography (How to).

1. I have to comment on the reviewer who gave this book one star: If you wanted a book on shooting architecture why not find one... this is about Travel Photography and it does a great job covering the intended subject.
   
   Recently I got a bug to learn about Travel Writing. I decided to develop a 3 month course, much like one would take at a community college. One of the things I learned quickly is that most travel articles have a much better chance of being accepted by editors if they include photos journaling your travels.
   
   I've looked at a number of such books and I found this one well worth adding to my course materials. The beginning of the book covers some basics such as gear/equipment, technical elements and light.
   
   For me it's the last two-thirds of the book that really shines. I'Anson calls this section On the Road and it's a compilation of specific locations that editors who are going to consider your travel photographs are looking for and good, maybe not great, examples of what's going to sell. One thing you learn is that great photos are not the ones that actually sell most of the time.
   
   If you understand the elements that make up a successful query letter, you'll know why this section is so valuable.
   
   I was just paging through the book once again and I'm going to revise my remark about the photos - they're a lot of really wonderful photos that spur ones imagination and make me want to get out and look for the type of opportunities these photos represent.
   
   This book is just fun to read, great to look at and a great addition to teaching yourself how to be a top notch Travel Photographer. To Richard I'Anson I say - Well done mate!



2. In my opinion, this is a wonderful guide book for an Urban Travel photographer. The section on what to take is the most useful and it tells you what kind of subjects an urban travel photographer (as opposed to wildlife travel photographer or landscape travel photographer) should look out for.
   [...]
   I do not profess that that my photographs are great, but I feel that this book has helped me tremendously during my trip.
   
   Contrary to what the previous reviewer mentioned, I do not find statements like this to be useless:
   
   "Successful images have a point of interest"
   
   "Skyscrapers are often covered in glass, which provides reflectons of the buildings around them"
   
   "Fountains are often the centerpiece of city squares or traffic islands."
   
   These are words that set a thinking photographer's mind to think - you can see the result of these words at my photo-site.
   
   All in all, I am very happy to have read this book before my trip. It couldn't have been any better.



3. I was looking for a book that might offer sound advice on shooting architecture and they seem surprisingly rare. When my search on Amazon turned up this book, it seemed a fair bet that urban travel photography would include shooting buildings so I gave it a try.
   
   The first chapter covers equipment and the depth of coverage is limited to telling you that there are SLRs, advanced digital cameras, and rangefinders. The author is also kind enough to tell you that there are zoom lenses, prime lenses, and that some are telephoto while others are wide angle. He does not tell you which of these might come in most handy in an urban environment. He does not discuss the pros and cons of lighter, smaller, but slower lenses compared to the bigger, heavier, but also faster lenses that cost a lot more money. He doesn't really tell you much of anything beyond acknowledging the existence of basic equipment. If any of the above is news to you, then this book will be a real treasure trove but most will find it so elementary as to be utterly useless.
   
   Unfortunately, the chapter on equipment is exactly like all of the following chapters in the book. I have culled a small sample of the amazing revelations this book has to offer.
   
   "Successful images have a point of interest"
   
   "Skyscrapers are often covered in glass, which provides reflectons of the buildings around them"
   
   "Fountains are often the centerpiece of city squares or traffic islands."
   
   These gems are a small sample but there are many similar "tips" to be found. There is a chapter that covers all aspects of photographic technique including exposure, composition, depth of field, and light in 14 pages that is mostly photographs. You can imagine the depth of coverage this allows for the various topics.
   
   It's almost hysterically funny that the book is published in digest size, presumably so that you can carry it in a hip pocket. What's lacking is any information or advice that you would actually find useful to bring with you.
   
   The book's one asset is that it is filled with various travel photos and some of them are quite nice. Unfortunately, the digest size of the book prevents them from being seen to their fullest potential.
   
   Since there were no reviews at the time I bought this, I've "taken one for the team" and am posting this so you won't have to waste your money like I did.

2 comments about Lisette Model.

1. If you are a fan of Lisette Model, then you know how hard it has been to locate reproductions of her images. Worse still, the most complete, easily available reproduction I've seen (and own) has been the wonderful little Phaidon 55 series book. For those who don't know the Phaidon 55 series, it's great, with great printing, but the books are little. When I saw this book at the SFMOMA bookstore, I couldn't believe it. It's huge. I would have bought it right then, but...it's huge! I bought it the moment I got home from Amazon.
   
   This book is really a treat. It's truly wonderful to see the grain, the rich blacks, the gutsy mid-tones, and the soft focus of Model's images. These are film images and the characteristics of the film, the equipment, and the technology of the times are in_your_face, and it's great. There is quite a bit of duplication of images between this book and the Phaidon book, but again, if you're a fan of Model, then you probably know that she doesn't have a huge body of work, and finally seeing these photos this big is the biggest treat of all.
   
   If you are unfamiliar with Model's work, then these street photography images may seem tame to you, especially when compared to her most famous student, Diane Arbus. But, you can find the origins of the brutal honesty of Arbus' work in Model, and it's evident here, in this book. Model's images are honest, but respectful. There's a kindness, a sense of empathy, in Model's images that is refreshing, rare, and sadly missing from most of the street photography that followed her.
   
   If you ARE a street photographer, then this book is pure inspiration, and spending time with Model can only do the soul good. If you are just a lover of photography, then this book must be in your collection. It's a classic by an important photographer. Get it and enjoy it for what it is, great photography.



2. If you like Diana Arbus and Gary Winogrand, you must get this to see where there roots are. Model was Arbus's teacher and you can see where she found the starting point for her street work.

5 comments about Mastering Flash Photography: A Course in Basic to Advanced Lighting Techniques.

1. The book is outdated and a bit unorganized, with lot's of old stuff in it. I would not waste my time on it and therefore it went back on the shelf in a hurry, sorry.



2. While the author provided a few flash pointers, most of the information in the book is common sense. No information on digital photography either. Definitely only for very novice beginners.



3. I have to add my vote to the reviewers who consider the book pretty awful. The pictures are indeed uniformly terrible, and the content is a disorganized hodge-podge, barely succeeding in sticking to the subject of flash photography. It also seems true that there aren't many books on the subject. Attention photography writers! Here's a big opportunity for an imaginative and authoritative writer on this subject. Where are you? This is such an important and confusing topic, and of course amateur photography is burgeoning now. Surely you can outdo Ms. McCartney and rake in the dough.



4. As a photographer working with available light only, I bought this book hoping to learn to ins and out of flash photography.
   A few pages into it realized that this book wasn't the one. The first chapter covers the fundamentals of flash operation -
   how does flash work and the basic concepts to remember, and that was VERY helpful. But it was written sluggishly, which
   made the reading tiresome, confusing, and un-exciting.
   
   It's down-hill after that. I found later chapters to be off the subject, or irrelevant, or too general. For example, I didn't need to read about the difference between portrait photography and photojournalism photography, or the different style of people photography - I just wanted to know how to apply flash in both - and this information was missing, or too shallow. I had to fish for the relevant information among lots information that repeated itself but wasn't interesting, like the different types of camera that use flashes. The information I was looking for, like specific techniques and ideas, was scattered throughout the book in an unorganized matter, if at all.
   
   The sample pictures were mediocre, at best, stuff that I wouldn't even consider showing my friends... Seriously, I was surprised to find pictures like this in a photography book. I didn't learn how to take good flash pictures in different situations, I didn't learn how to apply different techniques of flash photography to take special or interesting pictures, and I didn't learn anything that my flash or camera manual wouldn't teach me.
   
   I wish I could return it to the book store, but I threw away the receipt. Very, very disappointing, not the book for anybody who has been using a camera for more than a few weeks. If this is the first time you've seen a camera, maybe. For everyone else - waste of time and money.



5. This book "Mastering Flash Photography" by a professional photojournalist and travel photographer
   (but not a wedding photographer) will teach you just about anything you want to know about how to use flash in a sophisticated way indoors and out.

   It starts at the begining and ends by showing how to set up portable flashes to give results that look as though studio strobes were used. The professional tips can easily be transferred to simpler lighting techniques for your own camera. It doesn't get any better than this when you can learn in good, clear English what you need to know. It takes the mystery out of flash and makes it as accessible as day light. A real discovery for anyone needing help on flash lighting.