| This
book is masterpiece! It might even be one of the most important
books on nude photography ever published - it's that good. First of
all, it's a huge and scholarly look at the life and work of
photographer Albert Arthur Allen. The first forty or so pages are
all text describing the life and times of the photographer. The
information is fascinating and will prove quite insightful to anyone
interested in the 1920's and 1930's, especially from an artistic and
photographic perspective. And then there are the pictures ... Wow!
The hardcover book itself is 10x10 and contains 256 pages of
absolutely beautiful, pure, pristine, nude-oriented erotica. Full
frontal nudity in all its glory is what made Allen a marked man by
many of the "morality police" as well as the legal
authorities at the time. And it's what really sets him apart from
most of his contemporaries like Imogene Cunningham and Edward
Weston, who were considered genuine and legitimate members of San
Francisco's art community.
Allen's
work could certainly be seen as a reflection of the
"high-flying spirit of the Roaring Twenties" and seemed to
appeal less to the art collectors of the time than it did to
gentlemen who in later times would be fancying Playboy and
Penthouse. This is not meant to impugn the artistic merit of Allen's
work at all, just the opposite. Allen was just a lot more daring
than his peers and this generated an electrifying element of
excitement to his photographs, something can still be felt to this
day. Initially, a lot of his models were fellow naturists, but
towards the end of the 20's he started to recruit more from
newspaper advertisements, targeting women who had come to California
to chase dreams of stardom. Allen's young women were "clearly
crossing the line of acceptable behavior for a proper woman - and
they new it." That's exactly what makes this work so exciting,
so deliciously naughty. Do whatever you have to do to get your hands
on this book - it will not disappoint.
|
