AEGiS-BKREV: Fully Exposed: The Male Nude in Photography, 2nd edition Books In Print
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Fully Exposed: The Male Nude in Photography, 2nd edition

Routledge, 29 West 35th St., New York, NY 10001. 296p., illus., bibliog., index. ISBN 0-415-03279-2, 0-415-03280-6pbk. $65.00, $25.00pbk.
Emmanuel Cooper. 1995.

The male nude has been photographed since 1840, providing functional photographs rather than artistic. To be artistic was a difficult task because of the taboos that were placed on exhibiting the male genitals. This very interesting book explores all aspects of photographing the male nude. There will be those who look at this book and will see only the photographs as medical history or scientific curiosity; others will see them as sexual objects; and still others will see only the artistic expression that the photographer is trying to portray. To photograph the male nude is to photograph reality, whereas the great painters and sculptors painted and created what they thought you wanted to see in the form of beauty.

Some will say "Why is this book in the AIDS Book Review Journal?" It is here because some of the most famous photographers of male nudes have died of AIDS, such as Mapplethorpe. They have left a legacy of photographic art that is both artistic and exciting to look at as well as being very erotic and controversial. AIDS has caused the male body to be an object of searching and soul seeking. Numerous male photography books have appeared over the last ten years. With so many young men dying of AIDS, it is almost as if photographers want to document their existence before they leave this earth. The male nude, when photographed with care, is a beautiful sight and can be a reinforcing power that soothes one when they are depressed. So, AIDS has produced an art form that has had a profound effect on gays. Also, in the last ten years, nudity has been used to promote television chat shows; and, women photographers of the male nude have increased.

This is an excellent book that gives a good historical account of photographing the nude through the nineties. The photographs are as good as the originals which were, at times, very poor in the early years of photography. A recommended book for all academic libraries. Public libraries will probably have difficulty in owning the book because of its content.

Keywords: Male Nudes

KWDmalenudes
97022801
BK970632

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