Fetish
: Masterpieces of Erotic Fantasy Photography by Tony
Mitchell
The mainstream acceptance of
images and icons from the once secretive world of S/M fantasy -
dominatrixes, bondage heroines, damsels in distress, and a wealth
of other characters - have helped make fetish fantasy photography
a legitimate artistic form. Fetish: Masterpieces of Erotic
Fantasy Photography collects the best of this exciting genre,
combining the finest contemporary images with some of
photography's most notable "pre-scene" manifestations -
images from 1950s underground and bondage publications;
"kinky" creations from the '60s; and glamour work from
the '70s and '80s. With 220 color, duotone, and black-and-white
images from leading fetish photographers like Peter Ashworth,
Chris Bell, Laurent Boeki, Wolfgang Eichler, and Horst P. Horst,
and insight into fetish clubs and fashion houses, Fetish will
excite connoisseur and curious alike.
Fetish
: Fashion, Sex, and Power by
Valerie Steele
Corsets, cruel shoes and boots,
thigh-high black stockings, leather catsuits, and second-skin
rubber...Today "everything from a fetishist's dream"
appears on the fashion runways. Kinky clothes formerly seen only
within sexual subcultures are now worn by club kids and socialites
alike. Hitherto secret sexual practices (sexual fetishism,
sadomasochism, and transvestism) have become increasingly visible
throughout popular culture. This provocative discussion of
the historic connections between fashion and fetishism charts the
boundaries of the normal and the "perverse," brilliantly
showing how even the most unusual clothing fetishes form part of a
continuum of behavior that enables everyone to use clothing to
express his/her social and sexual identity.
Shoes
: A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers & More by
Linda O'Keeffe, Andreas Bleckmann (Photographer)
Announcing
an obsessive extravaganza of women's shoes--a chunky,
irresistible, full-color book with page after page of over 1,000
seductive photos and information. A quirky, obsessive history of
women's footwear, this book includes designers, famous shoes,
trends, and cycles.
The
Complete Book of Abs by Kurt
Brungardt
Anyone who works out knows that
abdominal exercises have progressed light-years beyond the basic
sit-up. In fact, a whole new generation of ab exercises and
machines have advanced abdominal workouts to new levels of
sophistication, designed for maximum efficiency to provide the
trim, toned midsection that everyone wants. But how do you put the
exercises together into a routine for your specific physique and
needs? The Complete Book of Abs shows you how. 300 Photos.
The
Book of the Penis by Maggie Paley, Sergio Ruzzier
(Illustrator)
Penis. Penis, penis, penis.
Say the word penis often enough and not only will you no longer
choke on it, but you may even be able to write a report about the
male member that gets straight to the point. Novelist Paley (Bad
Manners, 1985) is right: Once the subject becomes the male sexual
organ, every phrase, every word, is a double entendre.
Nevertheless, she plunges ahead (there it is again) with a book
that explores physiology (size matters, at least as evidenced by
the ruler and the fig leaf on the cover designed to lift and
reveal Michelangelo's vision of David's penis), history, penis
worship, and penises in art, literature, movies, and fashion.
There are also stomach-churning reports on what men in various
cultures (including our own) do or allow to be done to their
genitals, ranging from circumcision and castration to piercings,
inserts, and tattoos. A section called ``The Secret Life of Men''
reports on masturbation, entertainment, products (including, of
course, Viagra), and an epilogue lists men famous for their size
and/or skill, including presidents, movie and sports stars, and
Gregor Rasputin. A series of ``Penis Interviews'' offers intimate
and sometimes thoughtful observations from transsexuals, a porn
star, and a male hustler. There are wonderful bits of esoteric
erotica, including a description of the fashionable Japanese penis
package, the ``Nippon Slip-on,'' and activist Eldridge Cleaver's
failed effort to reintroduce the codpiece to American fashion.
Men's
Show by Patrick McMullan (Photographer)
While the world of fashion and modeling
photography expends a lot of ink and time talking about women and
glamorous females (femme fatals, divas, babes, etc.) in fact, what
really catches our eye is great looking boys.
I don't say that just 'cause I'm gay, but
because it's true. GO to a gym, and all eyes are on the best
looking guys (including those of the "straight" men who
just want to look that good). When a great looking guy walks into
a store or a fast food place, everyone notices. And, as the old ZZ
TOP song stated (correctly) every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp
dressed man. But as crazy as they are about "sharp dressed'
ones, it's barely or un dressed ones that they really go nuts
over. I suspect taht's one reason why the biggest movie stars,
rock stars, and TV stars have always been sexy men.
Anyhow, pop sociology aside, this book is all
about the boys. It makes me wonder if women's fashions may not be
attempts to make women feel like they're not just
"extras" in life. Most photographers are gay, most
designers are gay, and most fans .... who cares? This book is
great!
