James Bidgood

Rating:
Summary: sexual fantasy at its most aesthetic, most overcharged
Review: I caught Bidgood's Pink Narcissus on tape a few years ago and felt as if I'd taken a hallucinogenic drug. Although Benderson's detailed, sensitive essay points it out, nobody seems to have noticed that this work is poetic allegory--symbolic dreamwork. This work is much more than it seems to some on the surface. Benderson noticed it. I hope other readers do.

Rating:
Summary: sexual fantasy at its most aesthetic, most overcharged
Review: I caught Bidgood's Pink Narcissus on tape a few years ago and felt as if I'd taken a hallucinogenic drug. Although Benderson's detailed, sensitive essay points it out, nobody seems to have noticed that this work is poetic allegory--symbolic dreamwork. This work is much more than it seems to some on the surface. Benderson noticed it. I hope other readers do.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic example for photographers of the male form
Review: I found James Bidgood's photo examples of lighting and confined sets an encouragement of what can be done in photography. His work has an emotional "feel" that comes out of the book and fasinates the reader. If you are a photographer of the male body, you'll love this book.

Rating:
Summary: Unique, Beautiful, and Sexy Study!!
Review: I really enjoyed this beautiful over-sized photography book. What a work of "Art" in itself, from its pink cover to the beautiful photos inside. James Bidgood is considered the father of the gay pulp and glamour aesthetic. An American photographer in the 50's who transformed his apartment into a fantasy land to photograph these beautiful boys. This book is just crammed with photos of beautiful young men. Included are essays explaining his life and these photographs. Some may consider these photos campy, but they have a beauty and style that was really unique to that period and time. James Bidgood was also the director of the homoerotic film "Pink Narcissus" in the 70's.

This is a definite must for your collection. A very sensual and emotional book of beautiful photographs. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Unique, Beautiful, and Sexy Study!!
Review: I really enjoyed this beautiful over-sized photography book. What a work of "Art" in itself, from its pink cover to the beautiful photos inside. James Bidgood is considered the father of the gay pulp and glamour aesthetic. An American photographer in the 50's who transformed his apartment into a fantasy land to photograph these beautiful boys. This book is just crammed with photos of beautiful young men. Included are essays explaining his life and these photographs. Some may consider these photos campy, but they have a beauty and style that was really unique to that period and time. James Bidgood was also the director of the homoerotic film "Pink Narcissus" in the 70's.

This is a definite must for your collection. A very sensual and emotional book of beautiful photographs. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Kitsch is kitsch
Review: James Bidgood was a bad (if pretentious) filmmaker, and his work fails even as eroticism. Benderson's overwritten (and equally pretentious) critique of his work does nothing to redeem it or make it seem any better than it was. Leave Bidgood's junk in the garbage bin of the seventies where it belongs. He deserves to be forgotten, as does this book.

Rating:
Summary: Lavish, gorgeous and downright sexy!
Review: James Bidgood was a costumer and photographer in the 1950s. He anonymously directed the classic homoerotic film "Pink Narcissus" in 1971. "Bidgood" is a terrific introduction to the 66-year-old photographer's work. Although some may consider the style of the photos kitschy and campy, Bidgood argues (through his work) that beauty informs style and fashion. These aren't interchangeable twinks in satyr costumes; these photographs harken back to an era when a different gay sensibility ruled. They are reminiscent of Cocteau, Genet and Anger. What Bob Mizer wished he could do, and what Tom Bianchi could never hope to -- this is the work of James Bidgood. The informative and detailed accompanying essays help the reader understand what he's seeing, and place Bidgood's work in a broader artistic, photographic, and cultural context. Excellent!

Rating:
Summary: deserving recognition for a cultural pioneer
Review: The reader from San Diego is clearly unaware that much of thework is from the 50s and that almost Everyone [copied] from Bidgood. Hiswork is a milestone in the representation of visual, fantastical and sensual love. END

Rating:
Summary: Sumptuously, richly camp!
Review: This book is indeed oversized. It's 170 pages or so, but more striking are the dimesions - approx 22" x 8". The pages are silver gilded on each edge, and the binding itself is pink. In fact, this is a typical Taschen book.

This book is a truly luscious confection. The images are outrageously camp and highly stylised. For those of you who know Pierre & Gilles work, this photographers pictures may seem to be basis for their style, but Bidgood usues real models and makeup rather than airbrush work on the raw prints.

Just looking at the photograph of the Pan-figure on the jacket starts your mouth watering, finally begining to drool as you pass from page to page.

If you can find a shelf on which to fit this book, you MUST buy it. It's simply beyond words. (...)