Fully Exposed: The Male Nude in Photography

by Emmanuel Cooper

Fully Exposed is a pioneering cultural history of the photography of the male nude which sets the photographer and the model within our cultural and historical perceptions and prejudices. This second edition extends the book's coverage so that the story from the beginnings of the medium to the present day is complete.
Fully Exposed is lavishly illustrated with over two hundred and fifty photographs,many of them new to this edition. Different chapters discuss how the male nude has been used by artists, the way it has been treated in the popular press,in relation to British colonialism and scientific ideology. It also discusses `private pictures' taken at home or acquired as erotic material by the private collector. A final chapter brings the book up-to-date and discusses the male nude in the nineties.
The combination of art criticism and photographic essay make this an unusual and important book both for academics and the general reader.

Genres: Photography, Art

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 1995

Reviews

[Aidan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-researched and interesting study on the male nude. Loved it for the most part, but like most of these types of studies, whether of photography or painting or else, it reads way too much into works of art, in my opinion. Not every detail has a meaning. The male nude isn't some sort of complex phenomenon. A lot of the ''insights'' just feel invented and/or the authors' (i.e. anybody reviewing any work of art) own wishful thinking or preconceptions. But that's always the case with art being exposed to third parties...

But this is a worthwhile book on the subject.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was thorough! It did a deep dive into history. It had an abundance of prose explanation so don’t buy this if you are just looking for pictures. It was organized well into categories like art, medical, etc. very interesting for anyone interested in photography history and criticism.

[Kamil Dudar · Rating 4 out of 5]

22,80,98,101,145,180,199,205,209,225,226,228,229,243,248,149,260

[Giovanni Groppi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit too redundant, but appealing