Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #150332 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 96 pages

Synopsis
Over the past decade, Jock Sturges has produced an incomparable body of work that revels in the beauty of the human form and celebrates the naturist spirit. Jock Sturges: Notes gives fans of his unforgettable images a glimpse behind the scenes of his working process, opening up his studio and notes to the viewer for the very first time. In this volume, he discusses his interactions with the families and individuals for whom he has acted as community portraitist for over a decade, and presents his preliminary "sketches," in the form of Polaroid and other small-format camera studies that he makes before following through with a finished image, ultimately taken with an 8-by-10-inch view camera. A selection of these preparatory studies accompanies several of the finished works included here, offering visual testimony to the complex process and inspiration that underlies each of the gorgeous images his audience has come to love for their remarkable clarity of vision. Jock Sturges: Notes offers unique insight into a renowned artist's creative process.

Customer Reviews

'Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.'
This is a fabulous new book from Jock Sturges that not only compliments the exsisting titles but for the first time gives us a glimpse into his working process and the effect that being photographed by Jock has on his subjects. There are 50 single page black and white reproductions. One colour single page reproduction and of course the colour cover image. As well as many colour polaroid and digital images that document the progress of an idea and/or simply show us what it is like to be a part of Jock's 'extended family'. Except for one beautiful image of Celie from 1999 all of the prints date from the period 2000-2003. Examples of his work for fashion magazines are also included. I was suprised that more colour work was not shown but at the same time quite pleased as it is the black and white photographs that I like the best. The quality of printing is rich and luxurious and the whole book is beautifully bound. Aperture have done a really good job. As well as commentry from the photograher I really liked the inclusion of statements from some of the people in his pictures. They flip the coin and tell us a little bit about what it means to them to be in the pictures. The original prints are very collectable and quite expensive. I personally have never understood the 'controversy' surrounding Jock's work and tend to think that as 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' so malice maybe too. 'What spirit is so empty and blind that it cannot recognise the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and the skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed'. If cameras had been around in Michelangelo's day he may well have spent his summers along the west coast of France too. When NASA sent Voyager on it's endless journey into space they included on it a plaque with an inscription of a naked man and a naked woman. A Naked Man and a Naked Woman. To represent humanity. The eternal grace and humanity represented in these pictures should not offend anyone. They are both a link to the past and a bridge to the future. What ever we build, what ever we may become in the future we are all just naked people at the end of the day. And in these days of virtual reality, global warming, terrorism, war and strife, I am glad that Jock is there reminding us through these calm, life affirming images that we are all human.
When NASA luanches future space missions to distant galaxies and beyond, they may well want to include a copy of 'Notes'. But I won't lend them my copy-I like it too much.

Jock Sturgis:Notes
It's inevitable that with the lurch of much of our society to the right, and the pervading conservatism that seems to be ever present, a book such as 'Jock Sturgis: Notes' is seen by some prurient eyes as an example of 'teen and preteen titilation' A big mistake!
Sturgis's photography, more 'art-house' that simply erotic, is an excellent example of quality figure photography. Much of the book encompasses beautifully shot black & white images, mostly from the south of France naturist beaches, but also some from the West coast of the USA. If you are interested in the human figure in photography, then this is a sumptious example of what makes Sturgis a top notch photographer of his time. Highly recommended