Few summer pastimes are more satisfying than swaying in a hammock with a good book. Particularly so when that book has very few words and very many provocative, dangerous and/or even more provocative pictures. So here they are: five new books to consider not-reading this summer.
When a photographer known as “the Godfather of US paparazzi culture” (also, Ron Galella) unveils a brand-new tome of never-before-seen shots of people like Bianca Jagger, Madonna and Al Pacino, you do two things: 1) check outside your window, and 2) get that book.
One day in 1972, Evel Knievel jumped his motorcycle over a bunch of cars at an Oldsmobile dealership in Oklahoma. Then some old photos of that day were discovered and turned into a book made for your coffee table. And possibly for inspiring you to open an Oldsmobile dealership in Oklahoma.
You’re going to see your fair share of lips this summer. And yet, probably none of them will be as famous as the ones in this book of artistic lip shots by the likes of Warhol, Lichtenstein and David LaChapelle. Open lips. Kissing lips. Just-sitting-there lips. We guess our point is: lips.
In theory, this is a good idea: pair each day of the year with a picture of retro surf culture (like Hawaiian board artists in the ’70s), an interesting surf-related event (like Jack Johnson’s birthday) and a Zen-like quote by a famous surfer. In practice: actually, still a good idea.
And since no summer reading list is complete without something called The Mammoth Book of Erotic Photography, here’s that. As you may guess, it’s 448 pages of new material from the world’s best practitioners of tastefully NSFW portraiture. And probably not part of Oprah’s Book Club.
