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Review by Grady Harp on 10/03/2009 -
An Artist's Progress: Looking More Closely Giovanni (a self-confessed moniker for a famous fashion photographer) continues to focus on an obsession/admiration for that object of historic dispute - the male phallus. For centuries art vogues have either lauded the masculine symbol for fertility and power, whether in sculpture of the Greeks or paintings of the Renaissance, or those passing fads have draped or even lopped off the au courant offending organ. While Giovanni is far from the only artist to finally bring full frontal male nudity to the same spotlight once monopolized by female nudity, he is one of the major voices working today who focuses his art away from fashion on the male penis.
This book UN*/CUT is his third foray into the examination and presentation of the genesis of creation and it is in many ways his most successful. The photographs are all of the male sexual organ, this time around each of the organs is uncircumcised ('uncut'), and the penis is the sole point! The models doubtless are fine specimens of men, but here Giovanni limits his exposures to the groin. The photographs are beautifully executed, with some of the most sensitive lighting and composition imaginable, and the design of the book of both black and white and color images is of the highest quality. Giovanni is interviewed at the close of the book and his comments are warmly sensitive and honest, explaining and not apologizing for his choice of subject. There is a fine Foreword by Jazz expert Jim Eigo that sets the tone for the pages that follow - and those pages capture the penis in flaccid and erect pose, at times with the models' extremities as part of the image, but never with the faces showing, making it very clear what the message of the book is about.
It is refreshing to finally see books of this quality offering a platform for what has become the last frontier of accepting our sexuality. Artists such as Giovanni discard the past prudish prejudices and let the images speak clearly for freedom of expression. This is a quality book and the audience will likely appeal to women as well!
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