Women [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

This book deserves more than five stars. I think it would make a wonderful gift for any young woman starting to decide what it means for her to be a woman.

As Susan Sontag tells us in the essay, "Each of these pictures must stand on its own. But the ensemble says, So this is what women are now -- as different, as varied, as heroic, as forlorn, as conventional, as unconventional as this."

This exciting book will challenge everyone's concept of what women are and can be in their roles. Many viewers will be uncomfortable with those poerful challenges, while others will find the images to be mentally liberating. "Ambition is what women have been schooled to stifle in themselves, and what is celebrated in a book of photographs that emphasizes the variety of women's lives today," according to Susan Sontag.

Underneath this conceptual work comes a theme built around a striking new sense of what beauty means in a woman, and it has nothing to do with youth and physical perfection. Ms. Leibovitz wonderfully captures what I think of as "soulful" beauty in this remarkable collection of new photographs done for this book. Interestingly, her most beautiful "soul pictures" come of people who are the oldest and have the most lined faces -- like her mother and sculptress Louise Bourgeois. I fell in love with all women, more than ever before, from being with these images. They reminded me of the beauty in the fundamental connection we all have to women, and women have to the fundamentals of life.

As Susan Sontag points out, "Such a book . . . is also about women's attractiveness." "Forever young, forever good-looking, forever sexy -- beauty is still a construction, a transformation, a masquerade." Only occasionally will you see an image of traditional concepts of beauty. The rest as avatars of what beauty may well come to mean for our children.

As you can tell from the quotes I have used, Susan Sontag's essay is a wonderful conversation with the images that helps the reader appreciate their potential. "It is for us to decide what to make of these pictures. After all, a photograph is not an opinion. Or is it?" Clearly, Ms. Leibovitz is expressing opinions with these photographs, but the viewer may often perceive them like a Rorschach test, with the response reflecting more about the viewer than about the image.

One of the most interesting sequences involves three so-called "show-girls" who perform in Nevada casinos. You see them first as ordinary women with tiredness and care lines. Next, they are revealed in their painted, plumed performing personas. You have to look twice, and then a third time, to realize that these are the same women. How more eloquently can you say that conventional concepts of beauty are only skin deep? Or in this case, appearance is only as deep as the cosmetics and costumes used.

Other photographs are revealing in other ways, some almost like a peep show. These are designed to show the reality behind the image, just as the Nevada women's pictures do. For example, you'll see famous ex-models and actresses in very unglamorous, but important women's roles, such as Jeri Hall nursing her baby.

But above all, these women are vibrantly alive. One of my favorites is an underground shot of women in a coal mine with other miners. The women's faces positively glow with energy. You can see the intelligence, the commitment, and the courage they each have. In this sense, the book is about all humanity, not only women.

After you have finished with viewing the photographs and considering the essay, I suggest that you think about your own life, whether you are a woman or a man. What is intelligent, committed, and courageous about what you are or do? How could you be even more so? How could you transfer that vision to another person? How would photographs or an essay help?

Take a look, and see what you think!

This review does not cover the text, which is Susan Sontag's contribution. I was expecting much more with this book, especially considering Annie Leibovitz's reputation as a photographer. I'm most annoyed that Annie Leibovitz chose a disproportionate number of subjects who are freaks in their appearance. To me it seems she decided that she would not be able to make a more representative sample of women visually interesting enough to sell her book, so she chose to rely upon freakish appearances as a crutch. I would have preferred she try a little harder and create the masterful images that I was expecting. Some of the many images in this book are good, and a few images are excellent, but quite a few are amateurish. For example, the photo of Barbara Bush could have been an excellent portrait had it not been for the distracting ring flash reflections in her eyes. They just ruin that photo.

If you enjoy looking at freaks, you may enjoy this book, but there are better books of freaks.

If you are looking for a book that has masterful photographic images, you will be disappointed for wasting so much money.

If you are looking for portraits of a representative sampling of women, you will mostly be disappointed.

Das Buch wurde als Geschenk gekauft. Kam sehr gut an, schnelle Lieferung. Als Fotograf kann ich das Buch nur empfehlen.