Bruce Weber: Branded Youth and Other Stories
by Dan Wagner
The accolade, a photographer’s photographer, fits Bruce Weber perfectly. His 1997 book, Branded Youth and Other Stories is a 288-page tour de force of beautifully printed photographs of everyday people, exotic locales, and celebrities accompanied by journal-style stories that complement the images perfectly. Sections titled “You Can Take The Boy Out Of Vietnam, But You Can’t Take Vietnam Our Of The Boy,” and “Mississippi Home Of Miss America” are treats for the eyes and the mind.
The black and white photos, with their matte finishes, wide tonal range, gentle contrast, masterful lighting, and clutter-free compositions are eye-valium – the book is soothing to look at. Even the stories, most of which are written in black crayon on off-white paper and adorned with cute cartoon drawings are comforting. The color photos, especially the ones of the Boy Scout troop have a color palette reminiscent of a 1950’s Technicolor movie.
Richard Gere reminisces with Bruce Weber at his Vanity Fair Hollywood portfolio photoshoot.
Welcome surprises such as a poem by Patti Smith, pastel and charcoal drawings, and a dedication to “my teacher and friend, Lisette Model” provide food for thought and serve as timely intermissions from photo viewing. The only photo that seemed out of place was a double page spread of costumed models wearing white wigs. One clever section titled “Court TV” consists of television images of the day they were shot that gives the photos a historical context that works quite well.
Branding Youth deserves high praise: it is one of those rare photography books that can help make you a better photographer. See for yourself.
Amazon Reviewer, Zoe Portway:
5.0 out of 5 stars For Those Passionate in Photography
“I've seen other reviews that say this book is just photographs and doesn't have many stories and so the title is misleading; however, I don't agree with this opinion. This book has a series of monographs by the infamous photographer Bruce Weber. This may not be of everyone's cup of tea but, as a university photography student, I found this book amazing. It has a great combination of stories from various authors and photographs taken by Weber. It may be that people don't fully understand the work but I would encourage them to take time reading the stories and taking in the excellent photography.
This may not be a book for someone who doesn't care for photography but if, like me, you have a great passion for photography I think you will really benefit from taking in the entirety of the book. Within the book there is various monographs so at a quick glance the photographs may seem random but once you get your head stuck in this book and notice the introductory titles to each series you will fully understand what the photographs mean and can further interpret your ideas of the book. This book is a photo book and it takes time to look at, it's not fictional and may not interest everyone, but I personally found it very intriguing.”
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I hope this book review will inspire you to learn more about Bruce Weber's photography. Thanks for visiting The Cranky Camera!