I like a lot of things about this collection of B&W figure photography. A few of these pictures fall into the classic mold (p.20, 65, 97), but Fahrmeyer wants more than the just the classic imagery. This comes out in illusions of floating human fragments (p.36, 110) and insect-like poses (p.34-35, 106). Much of the imagery comes from the fashion and glamor world - enjoyable, but not what makes this collection memorable.

The most striking works in this collection are studies in comparison. Sometimes that comes from a man's figure and a woman's, as contrasts (p. 41, 66) or complements (p.7, 49-50, 126-7). Other times it's the juxtaposition of light skin tones and dark (p. 29-30, 49), or both poles at once (p. 8-9, 94). That leads to my one real (but minor) complaint about this collection. Fahrmeyer does beautifully well with the natural elegance of dark skin, but he often tries to enhance the lighter tones with some kind of makeup. It often gives gives a crusty look (p.27, 36, 49) that I just can't follow. That enhancement, like the enhancement of bust in a few pictures (esp. p.142-143), did not enhance the over-all effect. He could have used models who naturally fell into the paler extremes, or done a bit more in the darkroom to enhance the contrast to let the natural tones speak for themselves, as on p.137.

When Fahrmeyer's vision works, it works very well. This collection is easy to enjoy. It's not just the same-old, but not outre experimentation for the sake of being different, either. "Between Men and Women" will be a welcome addition to any collection of figure photography.

//wiredweird

I enjoyed this book very much. The photos were both sensual and artistic. The photograper of this book is very talented. It will make a great holiday gift for special friends.