|
Ruth Harriet Louise and Hollywood Glamour Photography (Santa Barbara Museum of Art) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Robert Dance, Bruce Robertson
Publisher: University of California Press
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy New: $8.95
You Save: $26.05 (74%)
New (23) Used (25) from $7.62
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 829807
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 255
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 8 x 0.9
ISBN: 0520233484
Dewey Decimal Number: 779.2092
EAN: 9780520233485
ASIN: 0520233484
Publication Date: May 6, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New book but is a remainder copy with shelfwear to cover and edges. Pages are crisp and clean--no remainder mark. Ships quickly in a padded envelope.
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
When Ruth Harriet Louise joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studio with "more stars than there are in heaven," she was twenty-two years old and the only woman working as a portrait photographer for the Hollywood studios. In a career that lasted from 1925 until 1930, Louise (born Ruth Goldstein) photographed all the stars, contract players, and many of the hopefuls who passed through the studio's front gates, including Greta Garbo, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, Joan Crawford, Marion Davies, and Norma Shearer. This book, which coincides with a major traveling retrospective of Louise's work organized by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, is the first collection of her exquisite photographs. Containing over one hundred breathtaking images--reproduced from the original negatives--it attests to the talent and vision of a surprisingly unknown photographer who formed the images and helped create the popularity of some of our most enduring stars.
Louise shot about one hundred thousand negatives that distilled the glamour, drama, and excitement of MGM's feature productions. Louise's original photographs were circulated to millions of moviegoers, magazine and newspaper readers, and fans. The movies and publicity machine that these photographs supported shaped the basic notions of stardom, glamour, and fashion in the 1920s and still affect our ideas today.
Robert Dance and Bruce Robertson re-create the entire process--from the moment a performer sat in front of Louise's camera to the point at which a fan pasted a star's picture into a scrapbook. They provide insight into Louise's work habits in the studio and describe the personal dynamics between Louise and the actors she photographed. They include a condensed account of the methods of other photographers, a sharp analysis of fan culture in the period, and superb readings of Louise's photographs. With its combination of well-known and rare images, all magnificently reproduced, this book is a fitting tribute to one of the most gifted and underappreciated glamour photographers of Hollywood's golden period.
Note: The hardcover edition of this book does have a dust jacket. (Some hardcovers of University of California Press books available in paperback do not.)
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Not mostly photos April 7, 2004
21 out of 22 found this review helpful
I had expected tons of large photos / portraits in this book. That was not the case. It is a fasinating read though. Peppered with photos. Just thought I'd tell others incase they expected a mostly photos book too.
 Creating the Stars June 10, 2002
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
This is a superb, beautifully-produced book that is important for many reasons. First, the authors have rescued from obscurity an important woman photographer who helped create the most enduring images of Hollywood's early stars and also helped define the whole concept of cinematic Glamour. (Her work with Garbo established the conventions maintained and developed by the better-known Clarence S. Bull, and she even taught Steichen a lesson that he used in crafting his greatest image of Garbo.) Second, they have put the portrait photographer in context, in a fascinating exegesis of the Hollywood starmaking machine. Third, a marvellous appendix has clarified, for the first time, the timeline for the development of Garbo's image by various photographers (and the chapter on Garbo is also fascinating in its case study of this process)... another appendix elucidates the formerly-opaque numbering systems used by MGM's photographers. More AND BETTER text than the usual Hollywood picture book, although it is also filled with never-before-published photos. A must-have for the shelf of any film buff, and also a good choice for those interested in photography or women's studies. Highly recommended.
|
|
|
Disclaimer: This is an Amazon storefront - the products referenced on this site are manufactured and sold by other parties and sold through Amazon.com We make no representations regarding either the products or any information vendors offer about their products. Any questions, complaints, or claims regarding the products must be directed to the appropriate manufacturer or vendor, or to Amazon.com. |
| |
