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 (Click for larger image) 
Smalley, Luke.
LUKE SMALLEY: GYMNASIUM.
Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms Publishing, 2001. Hardcover. First Edition/First Printing. 96 pages. As New/As New. Signed. Debut collection of black-and-white photographs. Destined to be a late-modern erotic photography classic. Limited Edition of 4000 copies. An impeccably elegant production by Jack Woody: Oversize-volume format. Photographs and text by Luke Smalley. Printed in gravure on thick coated stock paper to the highest standards. In lovely wraparound pictorial DJ with titles on the spine, as issued. Presents photographs of young men engaging in various forms of athletic, gymnastic, and workout activities, using antique or antique-reproduction instruments, following the old rules of the game and developing their bodies in a natural, supple way. Discovered by the photographer in small Pennsylvania towns and photographed by him over a ten-year period, the subjects go about their routines apparently oblivious to the camera. In the pictures where they are clearly posing before Smalley's camera, the influence of August Sander is unmistakable: These photographs are austere-looking and in straightforward "documentary" style, a look that Bruce Weber has also shrewdly appropriated for some of his work to great erotic effect. That is to say, the eroticism of the photographs is ultimately more powerful than most overtly sexual, explicit photography. Almost all of the models are naturally good-looking but do not look like fashion- or commercial-model types at all. They have lean and sinewy bodies, which developed over time through athletics rather than a self-conscious body-building regimen. In a contemporary photographic world replete with "in-your-face" nudity, massive physiques and sweaty eroticism, the photographer has produced a handsome body of work that holds back and hints at rather than shows off. The result is more appealing and more rewarding. A brilliant collection. This copy is very neatly and beautifully signed in black fountain pen on the title page by Luke Smalley. This is the only signed copy available online and has no flaws, a pristine beauty. A very scarce signed copy thus. 80 sheetfed gravure plates. One of the most accomplished living American photographers. A flawless copy. . ISBN 0944092799. $125.00 |
