Save 32% Off: A Child Is Born Review & Ratings

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A Child Is Born Review

Lennart Nilsson's amazing photography of life in the womb is gathered together into this book to help anyone understand the miracle of life. Unlike other books about pregnancy, this book deals with the child's development rather than the mother's, and as such can be appreciated by all.
If you are pregnant, know someone who is, or just want to know about babies in the womb, I highly recommend at least leafing thru the book in your local bookstore... you'll most likely buy it as soon as you see it, so be prepared! This is also an excellent gift for anyone who is pregnant!
We used this book to educate all our friends about pregnancy and later to show my 18 month old son what those twin babies in mommy's belly were looking like. My parents used an earlier version of this book to help my sister and I prepare for the birth of our baby brother.
Full color photographs of inutero babies fill the pages, going from preconception chapters on reproduction, through each week of life, all the way to the birth of the baby. Week by week, you can look at what a babies' development should be, learn when the ears and arms develop (as well as many other parts), etc.
The photography is amazing, crisper and clearer that the naked eye looking at a baby out of the womb. The beauty is something akin to the brilliant images that the Hubble Space Telescope has shot back to Earth. The discoveries that you will make seem endless (Did you know that at 4 1/2 weeks we all look like some prehistoric tentacle bearing sea creature?).
There is also a video out called "The Miracle of Life" that has Lennart Nilsson's videos of inutero babies that is an incredible learning tool as well. Most good libraries should have it.
Oh, the only real downfalls are that the photos of people outside the womb have that cheesy 70s/80s look to them, no twins inutero, and you will probably wear out the binding on your book because it is so spectacular.

A Child Is Born Overview

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Save 25% Off: The Miraculous World of Your Unborn Baby : A Week-by-Week Guide to Your Pregnancy Review & Ratings

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The Miraculous World of Your Unborn Baby : A Week-by-Week Guide to Your Pregnancy Review

There's a new book, The Miraculous World of Your Unborn Baby by Nikki Bradford that incorporates prenatal psychological development and bonding as part of "A Week-by-Week Guide to Your Pregnancy". This is now my current top recommendation about the changes of pregnancy. Overall, it's outstanding.
Some particularly interesting points:
p. 125 - "Labor pain does not come directly from your womb, but is due to ischemia, a lack of blood in the uterine muscles produced by the womb working hard. This hurts for the same reason that a heart attack or angina hurts; lack of oxygen to the muscles, and a buildup of cellular waste products which irritate nerve tissue."
I especially love the following paragraph at the end of p. 123:
"But perhaps the best news of all is that birth memories are something all future parents can influence positively, for their own children. We do not have to repeat the mistakes previous generations have made. We can, by making the transition of newborns into our world as gentle, loving, and respectful as possible, help ensure that their first -- and lasting -- impressions are good ones."
It's only by contrast with the overall excellence that the following points stand out as questionable:
p. 92 - Endorphins too large to cross placental barrier? Morphine is known to cross the placental barrier, and it's known that epidurals in a laboring woman change the baby's level of endorphins at birth. I'd like to see some research behind this claim.
p. 118 - The discussion of due dates ignores the research that shows the average healthy, well-nourished caucasian woman naturally birthing her first baby will give birth eight days after her due date. That means that half of them don't give birth until *after* eight days past the due date.
p. 127 - The picture shows a woman laboring lying flat on her back. This position is almost always significantly more painful to a laboring woman than an upright or side-lying position, and it could possibly cause circulatory problems.
p. 134 - In the discussion of how a newborn experiences birth, there is mention of a fear of dying that may go back to feeling unable to breathe immediately after birth. This section ignores the option of leaving the cord intact to continue delivering oxygenated blood to the newborn during the time it takes to convert to breathing air.
p. 137 - The picture caption describes the baby as having been gently washed, weighed, and diapered before being wrapped in a soft blanket and placed in his mother's arms. This is amazingly backward for a book about perinatal psychology. I feel quite certain that washing, weighing, diapering and swaddling are all much lower on the baby's priority list than being placed in the mother's arms. This caption also perpetuates the myth that newborns are warmer wrapped in blankets. In fact, since newborns have trouble generating their own body heat, wrapping them in layers of insulation keeps them separate from sources of heat, such as their mother's belly. The best way to warm a baby is skin-to-skin on mom's belly, all covered by a blanket. Regarding a Leboyer bath, this may have advantages, but it also has disadvantages in washing the amniotic fluid off the baby; the smell of the amniotic fluid is a clue to the baby of what breastmilk is like, and the more mother and baby continue to smell the same after birth, the better breastfeeding will go.
p. 137 - Another piece of misinformation is the recommendation to "Breastfeed right away if you can." This slogan originated in a time when babies were often separated from their mothers for many hours after birth, and there was an attempt to reduce this time to an hour or less after birth. Unfortunately, this information has been misinterpreted so that mothers are now trying to force feed their babies before they're ready to nurse. Babies are not subtle - they have no manners. When they are hungry, they will let you know. Typically, a baby's first priority is figuring out the breathing routine. Then, the baby wants to gaze at faces to help organize the visual part of the brain. Then, some time later, typically 20-30 minutes after birth, the baby becomes interested in finding the breast.

The Miraculous World of Your Unborn Baby : A Week-by-Week Guide to Your Pregnancy Overview

Your baby is yet to be born . . . but she's listening, learning, and aware of the outside world!
Traditionally, the world of an as-yet-unborn baby was thought to be an isolated and silent one. It was assumed that, asleep and growing in its mother's womb, the developing baby was incapable of experiencing sight, sound, thought, or emotion. In fact, the truth is very different, as bestselling author Nikki Bradford reveals here. Drawing on the latest research by leading authorities in the field, the author explains how the unborn baby's awareness of the outside world develops rapidly from very early in pregnancy.

Did you know that unborn babies respond to sound, and duck away from strong light, as early as 16 weeks? That they have been observed shying away from--and even attacking--an amniocentesis needle at around the same time? That babies follow moving light sources with their hands by 20 weeks? Or that they recognize music and nursery rhymes from 33 weeks?

The Miraculous World of Your Unborn Baby not only offers you unique insights into your child's remarkable mental and physical developments in the womb, but also provides wide-ranging information on pregnancy and childbirth. This information is featured in comprehensive sections on: How babies grow, week-by-week: Stunning color photographs enable you to follow the physical development of your baby. Did you know that the first heartbeat can be detected at about five weeks, and that fingernails appear by ten weeks? Your pregnancy and birth: Just how does the body cope with it all? Advice and information are provided on every stage of pregnancy. What babies can do in the womb: The latest research findings about unborn babies' emotional awareness and learning abilities; the evidence of communication (and telepathy) between babies and mothers. What unborn babies know: What babies hear, sense, experience, dream--and remember--about being born and being in the womb. Looks at babies' emotional development, including reactions to your various moods.


Nikki Bradford has written The Miraculous World of Your Unborn Baby in consultation with leading experts in the field: San Diego-based Dr. David B. Chamberlain, President of the International Association for Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health, and arguably the world authority on prenatal psychology; Professor Geoffrey Chamberlain, past President of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the United Kingdom; and Dr. Sammy Lee, an acclaimed London-based consultant embryologist.


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Save 25% Off: Professional Portrait Posing: Techniques and Images from Master Photographers (Pro Photo Workshop) Review & Ratings

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Professional Portrait Posing: Techniques and Images from Master Photographers (Pro Photo Workshop) Review

This is an excellent book that showcases the work of some of the finest portrait photographers in the business. The work of Monte Zucker, Chris Nelson and Tim Kelly is just amazing. ANY photographer can learn from their expertise.
This book cuts out much of the 'fluff' in other photography books and just gives you the 'meat'. It is well written and well presented.

Professional Portrait Posing: Techniques and Images from Master Photographers (Pro Photo Workshop) Overview

A brief introduction to the basic principles of creating a flattering pose accompanies chapters devoted to 12 acclaimed photographers who present and discuss their favorite, most successful, and most challenging photos. Widely regarded for their flattering, inventive, and cutting-edge posing techniques, these professionals cover why the pose was selected, how it complemented the subject and the scene, and how it works to make the subject look his or her best. The special challenge of group portraits is also covered by many of the contributors. Additional topics of discussion include personalized tips for learning the art of posing, common problems they see in portraits and their solutions, and suggestions and ideas for researching poses.

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Pregnant Nudes Review & Ratings

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Pregnant Nudes Review

When you turn the first page of this photo album, you will immediately know sincere and serious intention of the artist, Catherine Steinmann. The whole volume is an homage for beautiful pregnant body, which I am one of the most ardent admirer. Each photo's high artistic quality and the photographer's tender eyes for the ladies in a delicate condition prevent this title from becomming a banal preggie porn. I found Steinmann emphasized a little bit too much on trying different photo techniques, while ignoring to capture the 'drama' of each pregnant nude, and thus made the whole volume less sensual. As I said, I'm crazy about pregnant female figure, but I did not fall in love with this title...

Pregnant Nudes Overview

Catherine Steinmann Pregnant Nudes is a 60 page bookconsisting of 25 Black and white photographs. This book is perfect forthe Pregnant woman, an expecting friend, or a family member."Expectant mothers want a record of themselves during that very shortperiod in their lives. Others come back for a second time to satisfytheir first child' inquiries about the provenance of their babybrother or sister." says Steinmann.

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Save 34% Off: Tulsa Review & Ratings

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Tulsa Review

"Tulsa" was Larry Clark's first book of photography. It made him famous instantly. The stark black-and-white visual style proved to be highly influential, and has been cited as an inspiration by such directors as Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Gus Van Sant. But perhaps more importantly, "Tulsa" was perceived as an uncommonly honest work, because Clark actually lived the life that he depicted. He was accepted by the world of marginals and drug addicts, he knew all of the characters in the book personally. And furthermore, "Tulsa" clearly shows the consequences of the marginal lifestyle, such as accidental gunshot wounds and dead babies. All this gave Clark a lot of credibility.
The book is honest, in the sense that all the photographs truthfully depict what occurred, and Clark probably didn't need to set any of them up. But nonetheless, it is very highly and deliberately stylized. In fact, most of the dramatic effect comes from the stylization, and not the immediate content of the photographs.
Let's examine how Clark does this. Consider the opening paragraph:
"i was born in tulsa oklahoma in 1943. when i was sixteen i started shooting amphetamine. i shot with my friends everyday for three years and then left town but i've gone back through the years. once the needle goes in it never comes out. L.C."
The paragraph is brilliant in its dramatic conciseness. It provides all of the context one needs to understand the photographs. At the same time, it reveals almost nothing about Clark. But this very lack of information already creates a certain sense of mystery and tension. The last sentence evokes an air of inevitable tragedy, and Clark's self-effacing use of initials seems to downplay his personal role and suggest that the tragedy may be universal, not limited to specific names.
The only other text in the book consists of a handful of captions. Almost all of the photographs are untitled, so Clark's choice of words for the captions is painstakingly deliberate. One of the few titled photographs is the one on the cover of the book. The caption reads, "dead 1970". The opposite page is blank except for the one line, "death is more perfect than life".
If there is a more perfect evocation of gloomy youthful romanticism, I'd like to see it. Probably Billy Mann assumed that pose by himself, and Clark was merely there to photograph it. But in this book and with this caption, Mann becomes a kind of tragic hero. There is nothing natural about his pose. It obviously glamorizes him, along with the self-destructive quote on the opposite page. But the caption's merciless conciseness makes Mann's death seem inevitable, and it also suggests vulnerability and naivete on his part, as if he didn't know that his guns and posturing wouldn't be able to save him.
In fact, the best way to read "Tulsa" is not as a Naturalistic document, a social commentary, or an indictment of society, but as a classical tragedy. The opening makes it obvious that something terrible will happen, but the photographs purposefully start early, with the tragedy a long way away. The first two photographs show the two principal characters, David Roper and Billy Mann, whose names are given in the captions. Clark makes them look touchingly young. Roper is squatting down with his chin on his arm and looking directly at the camera. He looks serious and lost in thought. Mann has a worried look on his face. In different ways, they look earnest and vulnerable.
Another picture shows Roper hunting in the woods, looking up into a tree with what looks like boyish delight. The first scenes of drug use take place in a well-lit dining room with a white tablecloth and a picture of Jesus. The point is obvious -- Clark is trying to create a sense of innocence that will be lost by the end of the book. He doesn't show how the characters were introduced to drugs or how they obtain them. In some sense, drugs aren't really the cause of the characters' downfall. Like in classical tragedy, it's more like fate.
The rest of the book achieves its power through contrast with these early scenes. Towards the end, Roper is portrayed as a big, shaggy junkie with a cynical grin. If this part is shocking, it's because one can't help but compare this image with the thoughtful boy on the first page. The settings also get progressively seedier, with much heavier use of darkness and shadow, underscoring the book's sense of inexorability.
Then, of course, there's a picture showing a pregnant woman shooting speed, shortly followed by a picture of a dead baby in a coffin. These events are like a sign that redemption has become impossible. But the characters don't seem to really want it, anyway.
And, in the very end, there's a photograph of three naked teenagers preparing to shoot speed. They're much younger than the other characters in this part of the book, so there's a hint of that innocence shown in the very beginning. But the implication is that the same conclusion is equally inevitable, and in fact will arrive much faster this time around. And yet the photograph is undeniably sensual, creating a feeling of subtle regret.
Clark's later work doesn't read in the same way. His second book "Teenage Lust," for example, reprises many of the scenes from "Tulsa," but contains much more text and information, and ends with a very long stream-of-consciousness autobiographical narrative. In some sense this decreases the power of the images. "Teenage Lust" is still worth seeking out (as of this writing, it has not yet been reprinted in an affordable edition), but "Tulsa" has a fatalistic mystique that stands apart from anything else Clark has ever made.

Tulsa Overview

When it first appeared in 1971, Larry Clark's groundbreaking book Tulsa sparked immediate controversy across the nation. Its graphic depictions of sex, violence, and drug abuse in the youth culture of Oklahoma were acclaimed by critics for stripping bare the myth that Middle America had been immune to the social convulsions that rocked America in the 1960s. The raw, haunting images taken in 1963, 1968, and 1971 document a youth culture progressively overwhelmed by self-destruction -- and are as moving and disturbing today as when they first appeared. Originally published in a limited paperback version and republished in 1983 as a limited hardcover edition commissioned by the author, rare-book dealers sell copies of this book for more than a thousand dollars. Now in both hardcover and paperback editions from Grove Press, this seminal work of photographic art and social history is once again available to the general public.

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