The 
        New Erotic Photography. Edited by Eric Kroll and Dian Hanson. Printed 
        in English, French and German.
           Published by Taschen. 
            ISBN-10: 3822849243
          
The 
            work of 82 photographers, drawn from 14 countries, are collated to make 
            up Taschen's latest photographic anthology 'The New Erotic Photography.' 
            Within the 610 pages of this hard-backed, coffee table, book one finds 
            a collection of colour and monochromatic photographs, for the most part 
            displayed one per page, interspaced with a biography of each photographer.
           The list 
            of photographers include Guido Argentini, Didier Carre, Peter Gorman, 
            Eric Kroll, Christine Kessler, Lisa Boyle, Susan Egan, Craig Morey,
 Ralph Gibson, the late great and deeply missed Bob Carlos Clarke (to whom 
            this collection is dedicated) and 'The Association of Erotic Artists' 
            very own China Hamilton.
          
The 
            book opens with the obligatory introduction, so beloved by editors of 
            such collections, and The New Erotic Photography offers 
            us two for our perusal. One by Dian Hanson entitled 'Shedding Some Light' 
            and another by Eric Kroll entitled 'What Is' - whilst I am not usually 
            a fan of such introductions - most seem rather pretentious and detract 
            from the imagery by adding nothing to it - in this case both are interesting 
            and give an idea as to how the collection was arrived at.
          The text 
            that accompanies the work of each photographer is also informative - giving 
            biographical info and a brief introduction to the philosophy behind their 
            work - and again adds value to the anthology.
          'The 
            New Erotic Photography' is printed to the usual high standard 
            that one has come to expect from Taschen but the main strength of this 
            collection comes from the
 balance afforded by the inclusion of the work of so many female photographers 
            within its pages, and their thoughts on erotica, and the editors are to 
            be applauded for striving towards achieving this balance and offering 
            us these insights.
          'The 
            New Erotic Photography' is a collection that keeps the reader 
            interested and the differences in both image style and genre offers something 
            for everyone. 
          Review by 
            Christopher John Ball 
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