Normally, I don't have strong response to photography as art. At first, I simply enjoyed the peaceful scenes and happy people that Sturges portrays. Many of his subject are young people, though, and my mind drifted back to myself at their age. Somehow, it all came rushing back to me: that sense of mystery and awe, about fifth grade, when I first started seeing the girls around me becoming young women. Sturges has a unique talent for showing the steps between child and adult with respect and innocence. I was not prepared for the evoked memory of myself at that innocent age.

This book collects some of the most beautiful figure studies I've ever seen. I truly hope that you can appreciate it the way it was mean to be seen.


One of the Great Portrait Photographers   August 14, 2003
 44 out of 48 found this review helpful

Of the visual arts, I probably enjoy photography more than any. In particular, I love portraiture, which is probably why I like photographers like Jock Sturges and Mary Ellen Mark who excel at this. They are invariably able to find interesting subjects and to photograph them in unique and beautiful ways. I am also fond of the black and white format usually used by Sturges and Mark which keeps the focus on the figures themselves as opposed to something garish they are wearing or the color of their surroundings.

With the photographs in Radiant Identities Sturges seems to be experimenting. Many of my favorite themes in Sturges' work are here. He has "family groups"--sisters, brothers, parents & children. My favorites of these are the "generational" pictures: where we see a child and an adult who mirror each other as if we are seeing the future of the child. But there are also some pictures here that have no similarity with any of his other work. There are surprises.

Of course, Sturges photographs mainly nudes and is probably best known for the controversy surrounding his nude photographs of young girls. There is no denying the erotic power of some of his pictures but Sturges is no pornographer. He is able to capture so much more. The arrangement of the figures tells us something (as in the "generational" pictures) and I am often surprised at how drawn I am to the eyes of his models and to the careful arrangement of the hair. He is an artist of uncommon skill and I would highly recommend this book.


Another true gem by Jock Sturges!   July 17, 2003
 23 out of 24 found this review helpful

After viewing 'Last Days of Summer' I came right back to Amazon to order 'Radiant Identities' (and 'New Work'). Again, I am struck by the power, beauty and serenity of Surges' art.

I'm a photographer myself, therefore obviously interested in the matter, and I have seen many - very different - work by numerous photographers. I'm also rather particular about what I like and don't like, and when I view someone's work usually I find just a few photographs I really like, the rest is often considered 'average' or 'not my taste'. However, this is not the case with Jock Sturges' work. Although I obviously have my favourites, so far I haven't seen a single photograph by Sturges I don't like, or even one that could be described as 'average'. They are all powerful, intriguing and stunningly beautiful.

Sturges doesn't only master the art of photography flawlessly; he actually manages to capture the soul of his subjects. They are real people captured in real life, not professional models who just undressed for the occasion. As explained in the foreword, they are nude anyway, and a photographer coming along doesn't change anything about that. This is their life, their world, their home. Sturges offers us the chance to observe these wonderful people in their natural setting, and we get actually get to know them a little bit (or at least we get that feeling). They are at ease, relaxed, and there is a palpable trust between the photographer and his subjects. He is clearly one of them and fully accepted in their midst.

The back flap tells us that Sturges received (a.o.) a BA in in Perceptual Psychology and Photography. After viewing his work that's no surprise, he clearly deserves it. Without his psychological insight, we would 'just' be looking at technically perfect photos, which might eventually become boring for non-photographers. Fortunately, that's not the case here, this book will remain interesting time after time, and it will be viewed again and again. The title is very well chosen, and it actually says in two words what I'm trying to bring across here.

My advice (no surprise here): buy the book; it is a great investment. Don't forget to read the introduction by Elisabeth Beverly; it explains very well what this work is all about.

One other tip: don't hide the book! I keep it (along with his other books) on a visible place in my library or even on the table if I happen to be viewing it (again). If people raise an eyebrow or criticise it, I gladly explain what the true essence is (apart from the enjoyment of beautiful aesthetic art of course). That's not the nudity, which is just a logical consequence of the true freedom and the natural, slow-paced lifestyle these people have managed to find and maintain. No small matter in a stressful, noisy, and aggressive world where materialism seems to rule, and many people are living their life in a way they feel 'society' expects from them. Often they hardly know who they are anymore, since they made themselves into a clone of others in their peer-group (who did just the same).

Fortunately, a friend introduced me to naturism when I was eighteen, soon to discover it's nothing like people who don't know it make it out to be. I only regret I didn't get the chance to discover it sooner, as a child. You can't discover freedom, innocence, friendship, trust, beauty, and in a word - the true essence of life - soon enough, now can you?

In my view, this book (as well as 'Last days of Summer') depicts exactly that, in a beautiful way. Enjoy it, cherish it and live it if you can. You won't regret it, I promise!


Beautiful, Rare, Perfect Work   March 9, 2003
 21 out of 28 found this review helpful

This book is beautiful. All the works are done very well, showing the beauty of youth and family. I was first drawn to Sturges work after looking at photos of David Hamilton. His work is very contoversial. but I ask why? Is a picture of a 13 year old girl shaving her legs in the shower so terrible? The thing is, thats these photos are not about viewing young nude girls reaching puberty, but showing the beautiful changes that we have all gone though in life, men or woman. The people that bash Sturges work are not looking at the photographs close enough. If they did, they would realize that thoughout his albums, the photographs are of adolecents becoming adults. You will find the same model at the beginning of the book at age 8, and by the end of the book there are photos of her at age 16. Get my point. Also I feel that there is a very strong feeling of family bonding in the work of Sturges. So many of his pictures are of families on the beach and other places. Most of them in the nude. And I think that he wants to show how close these families are. Most teens would freak if their parents saw them naked, but here we see how secure, happy, and close these families are with earch other. This is not trash, this is work that very very few people can do. Sturges is very classy about his work. No open legs (if so, it is not staged at all), and with his 8x10 camera, is also able to get beautiful wide angle shots that show more than a nude boy girl or family, but the beautiful beaches and skies that surround them. Don't miss and of Sturges work. Its not worth missing. Open your mind to all forms of art. Get this book. You will rush to by the rest of his works including (the last day of summer, self-titled, and new work)


This is one of the few negative reviews you'll read of this book.   March 13, 2006
 18 out of 25 found this review helpful

While Jock Sturges has almost flawless control of the technical aspects of the photographs in this book (excellent exposure and placement of the subject matter): the moments it captures leave much to be desired.

Perhaps it is simply that I am looking at it from the wrong perspective, and I am expecting of it something that cannot be expected of straight portraiture, but I don't believe this to be true.
The black and white photographs are very well done in that they have wonderful transitions of gradient tones, and the subject matter is always very clear and concise with little confusion as to what aspect of the photo you should be concentrating on. What i don't like is the overall emotional aspect of the photographs, and the reactions of the people in them. For me, there is only 2 photographs in this book that have any sense of emotive quality that i would actively seek out - and even those two photographs have problems.

- In the photograph of the boys holding hands, and in several others, I see apprehension on the faces of the subjects. I see someone looking at a camera not knowing if they should be going about there normal business, and someone who is unfamiliar with the person taking the photograph. It is not outright anger or dislike - just apprehension.

- In the photograph of the girl and the boy leaning on each other on the beach; it is a beautiful sentiment and it is well done, but you can see, you can FEEL the boy looking at the photographer with a sense of protectiveness, a sense of disconnection from his activities in order to be watchful of this person taking photos of them.

In all but a few of the photographs - the person being photographed is looking at the photographer or the camera itself. this is fine in most photography - but the setting of this book is not the studio, and it is among other people. I would like to have expected an interaction with the people around the subjects, with the surroundings, or at VERY LEAST, an internal reactions of the subject themselves (wonder, happiness, sadness, questioning, SOMETHING).

I am of the school of photography that believes in capturing the essence of a moment, the little tricks the body does to convey an emotion, that which is a moving changing thing, that has a reason, a direction; an engagement. You'll see them every now and again in the people your around a lot, a furrowed brow, an upturning of the mouth.
A big part of being able to capture such moments requires that the person never be looking at the camera. they should be looking at you. at the person behind the camera - and not at a photographer, at a person with whom they FEEL something towards. and if they are simply looking at the camera, there should be something more in it then simple apprehension.
Personally, this book fails in many ways for me. It is titled "Radiant Identities" - but I see no identities, I see no emotional personality, I see only bodies who are unsure and aware of a man taking photographs of them. I give this 3 stars because the techniques are well done; and because as a resource for artists, it has a few selections that are wonderful anatomical and surface muscle studies that are hard to find elsewhere. From the perspective of art however I would give it a 2 at best.