Paul Outerbridge: Command Performance Hardcover – May 15, 2009

It would be easy with Outerbridge to be mislead by the sharpness of his palette or the oddity of his subjects. One might scale him as a simple eccentric: this would be totally reductionist. His mastery of complex color techniques, his understanding of camera consequences, his control of lighting, and his joy of composition mark him as a technical master on par with the best in more tame genres. That he adds to this an eroticism and sensuality that is non-standard would in itself place him in a special category. That all this is packaged with a sly commentary on bourgeoise values makes him a keeper for anyone seriously interested in photography.

kinda hard tell things in the language of the empire:to cut it short, as i see those pics i gather this is a very big case of overlooking an artist; this kandisnky like pics are somtehing i've never seen before, and the pic in the main cover is mind blowing;i have the feeling, that as long you are not too fashionable from the market point of view, you do not even exist, and i think this is here the point with Outerbrige.anyway, he was not to dedicated to the fashion stuff.the book is great in my opinion.

I think most photographers are familiar with the nude with claws photo and that one is included in this collection, along with a few other portraits and figure studies. However the book concentrates a great deal on Outerbridge's commissioned commercial photography. While it is definitely worth studying to improve your composition skills, many of the photos are not that interesting outside of the technical proficiency demonstrated. I would have preferred to see more concentration on personal projects.

Very good book! Such great photographs. I'm not familiar with the photographer. I liked it a lot. Very modern. Loved turning every page. Highly recommended.