Ralf Mohr:
Contemporary Nude Photographs

The tradition of the portrait is a long one with a lush and fruitful history that spans the genres of painting, sculpture, and, of course, photography. Those who become experts in the genre must adopt many roles, some complimentary and others contradictory. They become their subject's observer; the maker of their own personal documentary, and yet they reveal something about themselves as the creator by choosing what quality is important about an individual and what should be revealed.

Photographer Ralf Mohr understands this tradition and reinforced the rules of portraiture when he spent over eight years photographing fifty-five women and men between the ages of nineteen and forty-two in their private homes, revealing a side of their humanity that the subjects themselves often seem surprised existed. The subjects of Ralf Mohr's lens are given a chance to express themselves by choosing how much they wish to reveal - the level of nakedness, if you will. As observers of the work, we are invited to a private realm filled with the extraordinary qualities of everyday people.

One critic described the photographs of Ralf Mohr as 'truth in an instant'. Those who stand in front of Mohr's camera would probably argue that the truth was really not all that sudden but did in fact exist since maturity, merely waiting for a patient and comforting eye to make a permanent record on film. For the rest of us, Ralf Mohr serves as a reminder that there is a hidden side in all of us that few ever see, especially in a public sphere. It's as if the photographs beg the question of how many people really know your own personal secrets. With whom do you share them?

Is your private life influenced by who you are and what you do in your public one? Ralf Mohr has created a commentary for a modern way of living and shows us a private side that few are willing to tread upon. It is a truly fascinating body of work, like a breath of fresh air in a market saturated with models and sculpted bodies designed to be desired and not understood.

Hardcover: 250 pages
Publisher: Edition Reuss
Language: English
ISBN: 3934020240

Petter Hegre:
100 Naked Girls

What happens when you combine the work of Petter Hegre and one hundred different models shot under his watchful eye? You get the exquisite volume that we now know as '100 Naked Girls'. In this well produced hard cover book, Petter Hegre proves beyond a doubt that he clearly loves women; so much so that the viewer is taken into a world of natural erotica that clearly arouses the senses and yet can be appreciated as beauty for its own sake.

In previous published works, Petter Hegre tended to concentrate on a single model. He makes the shift to a wide range of subjects with the skill that his professional stature would require, and we are left with a collection that is bubbling over with life and reminds us why we all fell in love with the female form in the first place.

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Editions Skylight
Language: English
ISBN: 3037665505

Andrew Kaiser:
Figures and Portraits

'Figures and Portraits' is the first published book by photographer Andrew Kaiser. The work featured in this book is not about capturing beauty or fantasy, but instead about creating what is human in all of us, for it is this quality that often makes a person stand out from those around him or her.

Always working from a minimalist approach, Andrew Kaiser will often capture spontaneous moments in his subjects, giving a fresh perspective to a genre that all too often relies on complex studio imagery and overly posed models. The majority of the photographs in this collection are black and white, but a few surprises of color lie within the pages. It is through this phenomenon that we are reminded of the incredible versatility inherent in the photographic medium.

Softcover: 72 pages
Publisher: Absolute Reality Studios
Language: English
ISBN: 1594577722

Jock Sturges:
Twenty-Five Years

Jock Sturges' 'Twenty-Five Years' is a unique addition to the growing family of Jock Sturges publications. It is the first that presents an overview of his classic images made between the years 1978-2003 with personal commentary by the photographer opposite each reproduction.

Jock Sturges is well known to be a photographer with a technical skill that rivals even Ansel Adams himself. Using primarily large format cameras, his works show crisp detail and remarkable clarity in dramatic and serene locations. Perhaps controversial for some, his subjects are the friends who have grown up around him since birth; young girls whom he has watched grow into womanhood before his camera lens. This volume is beautifully printed in a limited first edition of 3000 copies.

Softcover: 56 Pages
Publisher: Paul Cava Fine Art
Language: English
ISBN: 0970796617

Andreas H. Bitesnich:
On Form

Acclaimed as a master black-and-white photographer of the sophisticated nude, Andreas Bitesnich focuses his astute camera on the contours and surfaces of the human body. As in his previous books, his nude "forms" are erotic and highly charged yet simple and technically perfect. Often relying heavily on the abstract, Bitesnich transforms the human figure into an object of beauty, making a complete departure from anything resembling portrait work and instead diving fully into what can only be pure and unflinching nudes. In a departure from his established work, he has shot most of this collection in luminous color. Here is a celebration of the human body revealed in striking photos of energy, originality, and artistry. Born in 1964, Andreas H. Bitesnich's work is equally appreciated in the worlds of art and advertising.

Hardcover: 200 pages
Publisher: Te Neues Publishing Company
Language: Multilingual
ISBN: 382384556X

The Story Behind the Pictures:
Photo Icons

Photographs have a powerful way of shaping the way we see the world and influencing our perceptions of reality. To demonstrate the unique and profound influence on culture and society that photographs have, 'Photo Icons' puts the most important landmarks in the history of photography under the microscope. For anyone who is interested in the how's and why's behind some of the world's most well known images, this book is simply a must-have.

Each chapter of this special edition focuses on a single image which is described and analyzed in detail; in aesthetic, historical, and artistic contexts, from Daguerre's famous 1839 street scene up through the present day. Presented in a small paper back format, 'Photo Icons' makes a perfect take anywhere.

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Taschen
Language: English
ISBN: 3822840963

The Playboy Book:
50 Years

There is no one who can deny that Playboy Magazine has had a profound impact on the way western society views the nude. The magazine's entire fifty year history is covered in this complete volume, including all six hundred playmates of the month since the very first issue published more than fifty years ago.

This is the perfect book for those who wish to feel a little nostalgia for a publication that has reached an iconic status as recognizable as Coca-Cola and Disney. Original fiction, cartoons, and tours of the most memorable Playboy clubs and parties since the institution's inception are all included in a history synonymous with the world's hippest and most celebrated people.

A must-have for pop culture enthusiasts.

Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Taschen
Language: English
ISBN: 3822839760