Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
 Beauty does not need a context June 13, 2008
ChevalierMalFait (Boston, MA United States)
36 out of 36 found this review helpful
I do not (yet) own this book, but I spent half an hour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop recently in an absolute trance paging through it. The sole review here trashing this beautiful book struck me as so unfair that I feel compelled to write a rebuttal.
The reviewer is concerned that this collection of photographs does not represent the daily lives and cultural practices of the people it represents. That in fact the attention these people are getting from tourists and photographers is encouraging them to show off and thus changing their cultural practices from what they were in isolation. All that may be true. But none of it obscures or in any way detracts from the undeniable truth that these are some of the most beautiful, creative, and uniquely adorned people in the world. To page through this book is to be transported momentarily into a world of sensual beauty that few of us even dare to imagine exists. The viewer who is open minded enough to appreciate it is gifted with an insight into the beauty of a people he/she might not have known even existed. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so.
Does photographing these people and the attention that ensues change them? Probably. Is that a bad thing? I don't know. But I do know it is up to the people being photographed to decide that. It is up to them to decide whether or not, and in what manner, they want to be photographed, not some outsider who believes their culture should be left intact. In a globalizing world, I can think of many types of attention from the outside world that would not be quite so benign. If it was done without compulsion, which appears to be the case, then I think that broadcasting the beauty of a people for the world to see is a good thing. Change is inevitable. Hopefully this sort of attention will help ensure that the change is positive.
Tribal Decoration July 28, 2008
Noemi (California)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
As a visual artist I can tell you that when I first picked this book up in my local library, the fantastic and surprising images nearly took my breath away!! I took it over to another artist's house and we looked through it together. Deciding right then to get our own copies. The wild painting on the beautiful black skin is very similar to the free and easy strokes in my own paintings. I am considering getting the other African related book my the same author.
Natural Fashion: Tribal decorations from Africa by Hans Silvester August 29, 2008
Lone Hansen (Bainbridge Island , WA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is an amazing book. I am a painter and it made me want to get in my studio and start paintings, the textures, the patterns and then now and then the sad contrast of weapons and Natures beauty, brings you right back to "real" world.I can't stop looking at the pictures, they draw you in. It is truly a beautiful people. The first time I saw it ,was at a friends house and I just had to go get it for myself. My friend offered to loan it to me, but that just wasn't enough. Thank you Hans Silvester for creating this book. Lone Hansen, Bainbridge Island , WA
Inspiring! February 2, 2009
R. Peters (San Francisco, CA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a breath-taking book. I haven't had a chance to read the text yet, but I was able to pour over every photo of my friend's copy with awe and wonder. Not only are the art pieces themselves amazing and inspired, but the photographs of them are lovely. I am a visual artist and I can't wait to get my own copy of this book to use as fuel for my own artistic fire.
Documented with full-page color photos and accompanying historical insights May 17, 2009
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Hans Silvester's NATURAL FASHION: TRIBAL DECORATION FROM AFRICA is a powerful presentation of East African tribal decoration routines. The Omo tribes use nature as accessories, whether it be leaves, flowers or butterfly wings: their fashion choices and way of life is documented with full-page color photos and accompanying historical insights.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
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