Forms of Desire
Book Review
Like Richard Kern, Doris Kloster
has photographed all the hottest underground babes in New York City.
Many showed up in Kloster's eponymous first book, from Taschen. Now
she's moved up in the world with both a bigger publisher and a bigger
book. This artful collection will give you plenty of square inches to
drool over. I especially enjoyed spotting all the familiar faces. There
are models and dominatrices, friends with phallic objects and expansive
views of the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop. All black and white with
moody lighting, each image is a portrait of a dream, a desire. "Issues"
are addressed, such as gender play, sexual identity and women who have
transcended society's roles and stereotypes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Psychobabble and allusions to art aside, it's a book of sexy pictures
of pretty much naked sexy chicks. Now that's what sells books, eh?
In all seriousness, the photographs are stunning, and not simply
because the women happen to be. Kloster explores beauty beyond the
standard definitions and reveals much, much more.
Forms of Desire
by Doris Kloster
ISBN 0-312-19414-5
http://us.macmillan.com/smp.aspx
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