Male Nude Now: Contemporary Perspectives in Photography and Art [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Leddick has cleverly divided the book into seven different categories: artists who are experimentalists, those who are neo-classicists, eroticists, fantasists, sensualists, realists and romanticists. The categories contain images by famous artists: David Hockney, John Dugdale, Christopher Makos, Nan Goldin, Duane Michaels, et al. mixed with those of artists who are not so well known, my personal favorites being David Halliday and Greg Bruce.

Leddick's opening essay (which could very easily be much longer and more detailed) explains what artists in the past had to put up with if their art contained even a hint of male eroticism. Times have obviously changed and this book is proof of that fact.

My one criticism, and it is a major one, is that the author insists on "gilding the lily." All of his examples speak best by being viewed. Besides biographical material which is to my mind vital, Leddick's extraneous editorial comments often border on the precious and are always unnecessary i.e. "Jack Slomovits photographs men who seem to be lost in their own erotic fantasy world...," "It's hard to imagine how he (Stewart Shining)finds time for his artistic pursuits between meetings with fashion editors, shoots in Florida and bookings in his studio...," "Rankin is very much a rebel with a cause...."
My advice: Look at the countless, first rate examples in the book and then contact the artists or their representatives as listed in the index to learn more about them.

There are a couple of dozen previously unknown artists I was crazy about. I particularly liked Steve Underhill, Jack Balas and Terry Gaskins. (There is a brief paragraph about each artist with a small photo included with each work of art; then there are addresses for the artists printed as well.)I would love to have seen all the people who got culled, or at least those who deserve honorable mention.

My only complaint about this beautiful book is that it is printed in a paperback edition only. You certainly want this one to last.