tiggymalvern

The in-laws are gone! I am free! Which makes now seem like a very good time to review another book of male photography, in this case Dylan Rosser's Red.

Red is a new book, hot off the press just last month. Rosser is a South African-born photographer who began his career in graphic design, and that really shows in his work. The book, as you might guess, is themed around the colour, and it is stunning.

Some advance warning here - I discovered during the preparation phase that my scanner hates the colour red. The scans I took were vastly different from the book pages, and I've had to play with contrast and colour correct like mad to try and get them to look the same. Many of these pics are still left with too much contrast compared to the book, making them look starker and less subtle. My apologies to the photographer. Also, this is a big book with deep gutters, so these images tend to be cropped a little closer than in the book.

Rosser photographs some of his subjects against red backgrounds.

In other shots, it's the lighting that follows the theme (this pic is one of my biggest colour fails, with the light here looking far too orange instead of the book's lush, intense red.)

And of course, who could resist draping these models in red fabric?

The head shots, which are standard in these books, are here too - only in this book they're anything but standard. The usual array of pretty faces is rendered truly attention-grabbing by the photographer's innovative style and choice of theme.

Most of the shots in this book are solo poses, but a small number put the guys together. This one in particular struck me as delightfully intimate and erotic; others are fun and playful.

And just to make it clear, there are penises in this book too, not all subtly fabric-wrapped genitalia (though there are quite a lot of those). The satin here is another scanner fail, it just can't deal with the fabulous fabric folds and the shadows.

Some sections of the book ease up on the red, to give the eyes a bit of a break :-)

Others indulge in it mercilessly, lighting models and floor in effects that are just fabulous.

The best thing about this book, is that I haven't shown you the best things in the book. These are amazing two page spreads, which the deep gutters and my inadequate photoshop skills mean I would only massacre, so I haven't tried. You'll just have to believe me about how outstanding they are, or ideally buy the book and look for yourselves :-)

The photographer himself. If you ask me, he should be photographed more often...

This is hands down the best book of male nudes I own. The photographer has combined the careful use of light and shadow that I always adore with his chosen theme in such a way that image after image leaps dramatically from the page. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Go, add it to your wishlists before present season!