Realities

Rating:
Summary: Not For The Shallow
Review: Jan Saudek's photographs are certainly not for the backwoods Playboy fan; Saudek's work is much deeper and tinged with the Eastern European candor and fantasy akin to a Jerzy Kosinski tale. Saudek's literary narrative is firmly established in each image-story which is made more believable - as all good stories are - by his use of real, imperfect models. Saudek continues his story-plays by adding color to his prints in a very loose manner as if to wink at us as he embellishes the sometimes acrid image with a thin, sweet confection. This collection of Saudek's images gives a complete range of his work and is of excellent print quality; a rarity today at this price. As this edition demonstrates, Saudek is a major player in keeping the 'fine art' in the photographic medium while others play with computers.

Rating:
Summary: Blends traditional images with elements of the bizarre
Review: Jan Saudek's Realities features the author's nude photography which blends traditional images with elements of the bizarre. All ages, sexes, and manner of men and women are included in a title which can be as shocking as eye-opening.

Rating:
Summary: Not very classical photos
Review: Quiet a wide range of faked up "hand painted" photos, with subject varying from fat to slim, tall to short, male and female. I found some to be gross, some stupid, others interesting, some sexual, some quaint, mostly nudes but not always - but overall none struck me as simply good looking pictures. This book is for explorers of photography more than anything else. If the book cover is available - that's actually a bit more than what you get. I took someone's claim of "classic" photos and the lounging woman holding a skull (nude female Hamlet) to mean revamping the good-ole, graceful and refined (sometimes naughtily refined) nude classics like Venus emerging from the sea, various Greco-Roman statues, and flappers in breast revealing gowns - instead, most of these are just "experimental" photos which owe only a muddied color look to being classic. Maybe classics for the photographer - not really classic photos. I wish the author would go ahead and revamp the old classics, providing a modern "French postcard" series of photos. Oh well, you can only wish and hope that some day someone will...