Femme Fatale: Famous Beauties Then and Now

Book Description

Chic, sexy, and sophisticated, Femme Fatale pays tribute to a century of feminine glamour. Invoking not only iconic beauties like Jean Harlow, Brigitte Bardot, and Marilyn Monroe but also the looks that defined each decade from the 1900s to the new millennium, celebrity stylist Serge Normant crafts clothes, setting, hair, and makeup to transform today's most beautiful women. He re-creates Julia Roberts as Louise Brooks, and Cindy Crawford as a forties glamour goddess, a savvy paparazzi-stalked nineties superstar, and a twenties ingenue. Elizabeth Hurley frolics as a flower child and vamps as Mata Hari. Isabella Rossellini is a curvaceous fifties pinup and an eighties punk. And Britney Spears exudes all the poise of Grace Kelly.

This lavish exploration of fashion history, imagination, and stylish beauty carries with it Bridget Foley's cultural survey of each decade—from social and political issues to art movements and key style makers. Beauty, fashion, celebrity, and photography mavens will all love Femme Fatale—and so will every woman who has ever fantasized about looking like a star.

Text by Bridget Foley

Photography by Michael Thompson

Customer Reviews:

Chic but not fatal........2003-10-28

This book presents beautiful pictures of famous and enticing modern women: but to call them "femmes fatales" would be to mischaracterize them.

By definition, the term "femmes fatales" was coined to gorgeous women whose actions were detrimental or harmful to their men or partners. Thus, in real life a woman could be gorgeous without being fatal, or vice versa, she could be fatal without being exceptionally gorgeous. Cleopatra was one such woman, who although not extraordinarily beautiful, was able to charm two Roman generals and to lead them to their downfall.

Although hairstyle was an important component of a woman's appearance, it was certainly not the unique feature of a person. Her eyes, smile, demeanor, sleek appearance, and clothing also played important roles. Therefore, to reduce a woman's character to her hairdo, as the hairstylist-author had suggested, was to overly simplify the matter.

The women photographed in the book were certainly "chic," although not necessarily "fatal."

dissapointing.......2003-05-10

Because of the title The Femme Fatale, Famous Beauties Then and Now, I was expecting a sort of photographic history book. I would be very interested in seeing how the image of a Femme Fatale has changed over the years, from the glamourous pencil browed vixens of the 1920's to the much more volupt modern beauties. (Think pulp fiction novel cover vs. Catherine Zeta Jones) I would have liked to read up on how even though what is considered beautiful (and dangerous) has changed, the character of the Femme Fatale predominates our culture, in literature and film.
I really got the wrong book. Instead of what I was expecting, this book features celebrities made over to appear like they would in different time periods, and the photos are high quality, oversized and printed on slick glossy paper. Some of the transformations are very well done (the girl on the front cover is Julia Roberts, believe it or not) So the book is not without merit, but they could have done a lot more.
If I wanted to see pictures of Britney Spears, I'd just read People magazine.

I just HAD to have it!.......2002-10-28

I have been a fetish model for almost two years, and a close photographer friend and myself are kicking off a new project which showcases high end fetish photographs. While my husband was searching for a poetry book in a Barnes and Nobles store, I snuck to the photography section to see if I could be inspired for this new peoject. My eye fell on this book immediately. I looked at no other book! The photographs are simply too beautiful for words, and I was heartbroken by the cover price... Reluctantly, I put it back on the shelf. When I came home however, I searched your site immediately and found a used copy in mint condition .... Obviously, I was nothing less than thrilled!

This book is based on the photography of hair, and showcases original photographs from the 1800's as samples. Serge Normant then re-creates these by using well known models and celebraties of today, dressing them in period clothing, changing their looks dramatically.

If you are a hairdresser, model, or photographer, you MUST own this book!

Great Idea, mediocre execution.......2002-03-08

Much, if not all this material has been published elsewhere, so you may have seen it. However, it has not been presented together organized around the interesting concept that Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Hurley, Susan Sarandon, Britney Spears and a host of beautiful women are paying homage to women of a previous age. (Yes, that Britney Spears).

In an interview with a French magazine, the photographer described himself as awed or intimidated when Susan Sarandon showed up. He only relaxed when she took charge and he just responded to what he saw. The mutual respect shown by the professionals on both sides of the camera is what makes these images good.

This is not just a catalog of beatiful pictures of contemporary icons playing dress up. If it is authentic it makes a convincing statement about the power and stature of these famous modern women and a lot of not so famous all around us.

If you know a young woman who wants to be in the next book like this, show it to her. I have handed it to several young women I've photographed recently. "Oh, my God! Britney Spears is beautiful." "That can't be Claudia Schiffer." "Elizabeth Hurley scares me!" Isabella Rossellini as Betty Page is the show stopper, however.

The photography is as good as it gets, but the material added to hang it all together weakens the book. Some of it is completely contrived and bogus.

Next time let the women and the photographer do their work and let the readers draw the conclusions. Meanwhile a lot of wannabe photographers and young models have some catching up to do.

Thank you, Michael Thompson........2002-02-08

Serge Normant may have been the creator of the styles pictured within, but it's the aritisty of the photographer Michael Thompson that's truly responsible for the incredible images in this book. Thompson is, perhaps, the most talented of current fashion photographers, but he's also the most overlooked by all but those "in the industry." He's classic, and contemporary, and as versatile as Meisel or Demarchelier. He may not be as well known as his contemporaries, but that's because he lives a quiet life in Pennsylvania, and stays out of the limelight.

Amazon.com

Sleeping angels. Flower fairies. Woodland nymphs and watermelon seeds. Anne Geddes's magical world is populated by hundreds of beautiful, chubby babies and gorgeous children dressed as peapods, pansies, peonies, and pearls. Geddes fans will be thrilled by Until Now, a lush, coffee-table-sized, 10-year retrospective of Geddes's work, including 1991's crowd-pleasing "Cabbage Kids," featured on calendars and coffee mugs everywhere, as well as many previously uncollected shots from Geddes's New Zealand studio.

It's not all costumes, though--the 1997 portrait of Caleb, 3 weeks old, is a beautiful, unretouched close-up of the sweetly sleeping newborn, belly-button still poking out and skin peeling. A portrait only a mother could love? Hardly. Caleb's perfect little sleeping face would evoke maternal feelings from a stone. Particularly fun and often touching are Geddes's notes at the back of the book. For example, of "Rebecca," she writes, "How do you get a 14-month-old to sit still? Show her the jelly bean, and then put it down her trousers." The resulting photograph is of a lovely, mop-headed, tummy-grabbing toddler peering intently at her own navel. Incorporating both rich color and black-and-white photographs, Until Now will delight parents, grandparents, and baby-lovers of all sizes. --Rebecca A. Staffel

Book Description

Anne Geddes' photographs of babies have charmed countless fans for many years. In Until Now, Geddes takes us behind the scenes to find out what she was thinking when she captured these images, her 113 most-favorite photographs. Her text also provides a background to each photograph and helps readers understand how this artist and her subjects work together.Consider, for example, Geddes' comments about the shot she captured in 1991, which she titled "Rebecca": "She didn't want to hold the tulips, and she didn't want to sit on the chair-there were too many other things to be done. How do you get a 14-month-old to sit still' Show her the jelly bean, and then put it down her trousers."From signature photos of newborns to touching interactions between parent and child to enthusiastic poses from older children, this gift-size hardcover edition of Until Now gathers together Geddes' most revealing and compelling work. Whether she's posing babies in the garden or in the studio, Anne Geddes' deep affection for babies and children is obvious in the award-winning images she creates.

Customer Reviews:

Good gift.......2007-05-07

I bought it for a friend recently- somehow I expected the book to be a little bigger- still a good gift for all the pregnant women in your life :)

Not just cute little babies...........2007-01-19

I assumed that all Anne Geddes books were full of adorable pictures of uncomfortable-looking babies. I bought this book online as a gift for my Grandma for Christmas. I wrapped the book before looking through it, and was more than shocked on Christmas morning when my Grandma was flipping through her brand new book and saw a lot more than babies!! While the photography is stunning, please be warned that nude adults are included in this particular collection. I was also disappointed that the pictures were rather small. Overall, the pictures were beautiful but the book was not quite what I expected.

Sickie bag, Please!.......2006-06-26

I was recently presented with a copy of this--compendium of cultural toxic waste--by a friend with dark sense of humor. I had confessed to her that, after lapsing into unconsciousness after a bender compounded of too much Maker's Mark and not enough food, I had had odd and disturbing nightmares studded with grotesque images of infants. By the following weekend, she left a copy of this monstrosity on the cocktail cabinet. After shaking up a suitable quantity of Manhattans, we fell to thumbing through this glossy bit of schlock. The inevitable debate arose: Does this stuff really reflect some vision of Geddes', or is this a very well put-over joke? I thought I had the better end of this argument by suggesting that anyone who collaborates with Celine Dion must have an immense sense of humor, but I was reminded that listeners to the latter are often a really humorless lot. That stymied me. And Geddes' objectification of infants, I was reminded, has the hallmarks of kitsch and sentimentality, but with an edge of--fetishization. These images are no more genuine, no more reflective of the (rare) bit of beauty that one can glean from a squirming screechling, than a grainy Linda Lovelace flick. Either Geddes is a master ironist, or a very, very disturbed photographer. For a case of the creepies, only Wegman and his harem of porno-Weimaraners can do more psychic damage.

So as a gift to someone whose tastes are so utterly debased that they can't see the creepy humor in this, as a gift to someone who can, or as an evil prank on someone who is likely to have colorful nightmares, this thing is a winner.

Until Now.......2006-03-23

Anne Geddes takes such beautiful pictures of babies! This price for such a big book is a GREAT value for the money. You won't be disappointed!

Let's not take this computer-enhanced art too seriously!.......2004-10-29

This is a beautiful and creative book if you like to look at tiny babies. That's about it.
I never knew people had such strange reactions to Anne Geddes' art before reading these reviews. The artist takes photographs largely in Australia and then has them digitally placed in flowers or butterfly suits and what-not in Auckland, New Zealand(she doesn't actually contort the babies). Perhaps some people out there aren't familiar with this technology. Also, the crazy charge that the art contained in the book will make women have uncontrollable urges to produce babies, well, that must be a personal issue I suggest taking up with a therapist. The world population is actually growing slower than expected - global population figures are being scaled back as modernization and education spread. Bottom line: Relax and enjoy the five-star computer-enhanced digital photography, find more important things to complain about and get therapy if you need it!

Average customer rating:

The Portrait Now
Sandy Nairne , and Sarah Howgate
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Portraits | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Portraits | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Themes | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0300115245

Book Description

In today’s art world, many artists are using portraiture to explore complex issues of identity. The Portrait Now brings together more than eighty portraits from internationally acclaimed artists to demonstrate the accomplishment and inventiveness of this art form.
Recent works by John Currin, Sally Mann, Catherine Opie, Chuck Close, Lucian Freud, Thomas Ruff, Wolfgang Tillmans, Vik Muniz, Thomas Struth, and many others reveal developments in painting, sculpture, video art, photography, self-portraiture, and caricature. Challenging the boundaries of figurative art, these works often go beyond likeness, break free of traditional media, and respond to complicated political, religious, and social issues. With beautiful color images of and in-depth discussions on each work, the book also includes an insightful introductory essay that places portraiture within a historical context and examines how this art form––as well as the purpose it serves––has evolved.
The Portrait Now is an indispensable reference book for anyone interested in contemporary art.

Average customer rating:

Now Becoming Then : Duane Michals
Max Kozloff
Manufacturer: Twin Palms Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Portraits | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books

Now We Read, We See, We Speak: Portrait of Literacy Development in an Adult Freirean-Based Class

Average customer rating:

Now We Read, We See, We Speak: Portrait of Literacy Development in an Adult Freirean-Based Class
Victoria Purcell-Gates , and Robin A. Waterman
Manufacturer: Lawrence Erlbaum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Literacy | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Adult & Continuing Education | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Reading | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Literacy | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

Literacy | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0805834699

Book Description

Now We Read, We See, We Speak compellingly captures eight women's progress toward empowerment through a Freirean-based literacy class in rural El Salvador and, in the process, provides telling lessons for literacy and adult educators around the world.

This book fills a real gap in the educational literature on critical theory and literacy teaching and learning. For the first time, we have a multi-layered description and analysis of a literacy class based on Freirean precepts and principles, through the perspective of "traditional" literacy theory and as interpreted through a literacy development lens. This allows us to consider how the adult students learned to read and write within a classroom context that embodies such Freirean precepts as dialogic teacher/student relations; respect for and knowledge of the learners' lives, language and culture; and intentionality about social-political change. Thus, this book is directed toward literacy practitioners, teachers, and researchers who may have heard or read about critical theory but have a need for concrete examples of the methodological implications of such theory.

Enlivening this account is the compelling description of the histories and lives of the students in the literacy class campesinos women who have survived a brutal and devastating civil war in El Salvador and who, nevertheless, stepped forward to work with a U.S.-trained literacy teacher, Robin Waterman, to learn to read and write for purposes of personal and sociocultural empowerment. The authors provide a highly readable presentation of the historical and cultural contexts for the women and the literacy class. They also raise issues of socioeconomic marginalization, unequal power relationships, and gender as they relate to literacy development.

Basing their account on meticulously gathered and analyzed ethnographic data, Purcell-Gates and Waterman go beyond the presentation of the study to suggest implications and issues for adult literacy education in the United States, linking their findings to current topics in adult education, as well as literacy development in general.

Carving a dream: Crazy Horse Memorial now in progress in the Black Hills of South Dakota

Average customer rating:

Carving a dream: Crazy Horse Memorial now in progress in the Black Hills of South Dakota
Robb DeWall
Manufacturer: Korczak's Heritage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Sculpture | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

Captured innocense

Anne Geddes Photofolio: Until Now
Anne Geddes
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Portraits | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Blank Books | Journals | Accessories | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0740708791

Customer Reviews:

Captured innocense.......2000-11-24

Anne Geddes magnifiscently captures the innocense of babies in photographs. These pictures bring with them the sense of pure peace and safety that only babies seem to be able to express. This book will awaken your sense of serenity and love.

Baby Photography NOW!: Shooting Stylish Portraits with Your Digital Camera (A Lark Photography Book)

Average customer rating:

Baby Photography NOW!: Shooting Stylish Portraits with Your Digital Camera (A Lark Photography Book)
David Nightingale
Manufacturer: Lark Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1600592112

Book Description

This first book in an exciting new series offers a lively and contemporary re-examination of a classic subject. It’s geared to young photographers who are having fun with their first digital SLR cameras, and want results that look like the stylish photos in hip magazines and ads. Filled with practical photographic advice and attractive, inspiring images, Baby Photography NOW! helps parents master the skills they need to get the most natural-looking shots of their baby. Learn about the essential equipment, lighting techniques, poses that work especially well, and the best ways to capture precious moments during naptime, bathtime, playtime, and special occasions. There are plenty of expert tips on post-production, polishing the image with Photoshop, designing an album, and creating gift mementoes, too!

Saints Are Now: Eight Portraits of Modern Sanctity

Average customer rating:

Saints Are Now: Eight Portraits of Modern Sanctity
John J. Delaney
Manufacturer: Image
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0385173563

Behind the View: Portraits of a Norfolk Village, Bressingham, Then and Now: Photographs

Average customer rating:

Behind the View: Portraits of a Norfolk Village, Bressingham, Then and Now: Photographs
Elizabeth Handy
Manufacturer: E. Handy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0952754908

Customer Reviews:

Interesting Format and Content.......2007-07-27

This is an odd little book, but a very good one, filled with hundreds of ink drawings and with handwritten explanations of their meanings. It essentially describes architecture with a anthropologist's understanding of human motivations to build. It describes problems humans have had across cultures with their environment, and what they have built to solve these problems. I picked it up to learn some about basic architecture, and ended up learning a good deal more about...well, everything!

Average customer rating:

Commonsense Photography

Manufacturer: American Photographic Book
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FMOR66

Average customer rating:

Commonsense photography
Leonard Gaunt
Manufacturer: Chilton Book Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0240506790

Average customer rating:

Commonsense Photography
Leonard Gaunt
Manufacturer: Chilton Book Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPT85E

Book Description

Urbandictionary.com is a very successful site that encourages users to define the world with their own unique terms. In Urban Dictionary, site founder Aaron Peckham culls his more than 170,000 definitions for the funniest, wittiest, and most provocative phrases that define the modern slang scene.

Within urbandictionary.com's lively lexicon are:

business provocative -- Attire used to provoke sexual attention in the workplace.

compunicate -- To chat with someone in the same room via instant messaging service instead of in person.

dandruff -- A person who 'flakes out' and ditches their friends.

wingman -- A guy who takes one for the team by hooking up with a hot girl's ugly friend so his own friend can hook up with the hot girl.

Perfect for those who want to pick up some new slang and those who want to translate it, Urban Dictionary is a gritty and witty look at our ever-changing language.

Customer Reviews:

Very good book for non-english.......2007-07-29

I know internet version of this dictionary. I was looking forward to see paperback version and I am satisfied. I am not native english-speaking person and some of the words were not understable for me. This book help me understand street words.
A+++ product

"Da bomb fo' shizzle".......2007-04-11

This dictionary was fun to look through, and I had a lot of laughs. It's a great item for teens.

Awesome!.......2007-01-10

This pocket book is useful. Especially for those who want to dig into those slang words and get familiar with them really quick!

check out the on-line version for a more thourough lexican.......2006-07-29

You should already know most of the words in this book, but if you feel somebody you know is culturally illiterate and might benefit from these well know words send them one. I recommend the on-line version for some top notch entertainment.

Urban Style.......2006-03-21

I bought this for a friend so she can learn some 'slang' and she is loving it. Completely getting a kick out of it. I think this is a must have especially if you want to laugh and change up your vocab as well.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books