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| Know
Your Number |
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By
Richard Shelby | Published by Catwalk Editions, 2003
(2nd Edition)
Purchase: Amazon.com
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As
a professional photographer, Richard Selby spent much of
his career doing what most photographers do, namely
working for a living - which entailed shooting color
photos geared towards the commercial tastes of various
magazine and publishing professionals. And admittedly,
Selby was very successful in this area. But after
working in Europe for many years, his return to New York
in 1976 prompted him to start shooting more for himself,
and it was during this period that he started
experimenting with the nude figure, shooting in black
& white. The results from this "personal
renaissance" are extraordinary and make up the bulk
of this work, Know Your Number.
This is a large, hardcover, gorgeous production,
consisting of 126 pages of nude photography where the
artist was truly inspired to showcase the nude female in
new and invigorating ways. It's difficult to believe
that most of these photographs were created in the
1970's. There is a timeless quality to them and calling
this work "vintage" would be completely off
the mark. Most appear as though they could have been
taken in 2003, and this is undoubtedly due to Selby's
cutting edge vision at the time he created this work as
well as the natural and superbly creative manner in
which her worked with his subjects. There are seven
individual bodies of work here: Angie and Louie, Umbra,
Sphinx, Barber's Chair, Nike, Plein Air, and Fetish, and
each is explored in a thoroughly engaging way. Selby's
style definitely leans towards the creative, but make no
mistake - these nudes are a sensual expose of what one
can do when a photographer decides to become an artist.
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images are copyrighted © property of noted artist and may not be copied
or used without written consent. |
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