Pornoland

by Stefano; Martin Amis (Text) DE LUIGI

Pornoland is a strange parallel world where pornographic films are churned out on a daily basis. Photographs by de Luigi and text by Martin Armis are your guides through this land, filled with actors capable of extraordinary performances (although not the kind that win Oscars) and directors who make an entire film in just o

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Tony Vacation · Rating 3 out of 5]

What every household needs - a tabletop book of porn shoot photos.

A slightly altered and different-titled version of the article which is double-teamed from either side by pictures of naked people banging can be found in Vintage Amis, an unnecessary and misassembled potpourri of Amis' writings. My thoughts about the article in question are the same on this read through as they were here.

So what that leaves for me to mention are the pictures themselves. Stefano de Luigi presents his subject matter - the strange hyperreality of contextless sexual excess - with a respectful distancing from the material. He often goes for the artistic shot of a surreal shadow play being acted out on the wall, or of a flailing limb that has managed to peek its way into what would otherwise appear to be a still-life photograph of some other object or action incongruous to the mental visualization of a porn set. De Luigi rarely centers his lens on the full-nude human form but when he does the result can be captivating, such as the ineffable batter of emotions I felt when looking at a picture of a lithe but exhausted Japanese woman standing alone on a plastic tarp, her body entirely drenched in oil, an indecipherable and introspective expression painted on her face.

It would have been nice for a more in-depth probing into adult entertainment, an industry that is a zeitgeist in and of itself, one that defies conventional opinions and challenges any absolute ethical or moral stance; but I'm not sure Amis had the heart to do that. I don't know if I would have the heart to read it either.

[Aida · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short read. Overall, didn't really like it. Neither the text nor the photography really captured me, and the entire thing left me with a metaphorical bad taste in my mouth.

[Svalbard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Le fotografie sono del tutto insignificanti. Il testo di Martin Amis è a modo suo brillante, ma piuttosto moralistico e pieno di luoghi comuni. L'impostazione grafica e la qualità di stampa del volume sono pessime. Il mondo è già del suo pieno di gente che dice che il porno è una cosa brutta, sporca e cattiva. C'era bisogno anche di questo volume, oltre tutto pure con l'alibi dell'interpretazione artistica?

[Ellison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Features behind the scenes images of the business, with some interviews in the middle, not an easy life. Insightful.

[Lachlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to tell at what point Amis's essay was attached to this art house coffee table book. It is mid-career funny, while still referencing John Updike, Phillip Larkin, et al. Despite, "the porno house, the porno deck, the porno pool... the porno fish in the porno tank," both the photographs and Amis's 16-page piece feel almost anti-porn.