RoyStuart

 

Books published by Taschen

Roy Stuart Vol. 1

Editorial Review :
"Stuart's style and candor make voyeurism as respectable as you'd ever want it to be." Playboy United States
Animal sexuality differs from eroticism in that human sexuality is limited by taboos and the domain of eroticism is that of the transgression of these taboos" is how Georges Bataille explains eroticism. Casting a new light on that most human of acts, Roy Stuart presents us here with a book of erotic power rarely seen. The brilliant technique and skillful presentation of his videos and stills present sexuality directly and without prudery. They have earned this Paris based American a reputation as a grandmaster of the erotic camera. Stuart's photos and glimpse videos have acquired cult status even amongst experienced hardcore fans, and with good reason, for they represent an exquisite representation of the forbidden. In turns voyeuristic, in turns narrative, his pictures with their disarming explicitness subvert traditional moral codes and force the viewer to reevaluate his or her preconceived notions of sexuality. The photographs assembled in this book, which in another context might have been condemned, instead give a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of Roy Stuart's magical theatre of transgression and taboo.

Roy Stuart Vol. 2

Editorial review :
Stuart's photographs will satisfy both the connoisseur of the erotic as well as the curious newcomer. In his first book for taschen, a ground-breaking exploration of "authentic human passion, " roy stuart produced photos that were both finely crafted compositions and highly charged representations of desire, without slipping into the tired stereotypes of pornography and the degrading portrayals that genre normally offers up. In his pictorial world, women are potently sexual figures who know what they want and are going to get it. Exploratory, experimental, they hold all the cards in the consensual power plays and fantasy enactments presented. This collection of narratives and pictorials does not fail to deliver either, with its refreshingly honest and strikingly explicit take on the more creative areas of the sexual psyche. Playing off dream scenarios against shots caught on the run in the street, and portrait style nudes against group love-ins, it will satisfy both the connoisseur of the erotic as well as the curious newcomer. With his trademark interest in the daily rituals of womankind still apparent, and his richly textured appreciation of the garments of seduction, stuart's work might take a little acclimatisation. But once you let go and enter in, you will find that, along with the loosening of clothing, a little relaxation of one's inhibitions can go a long way.

Roy Stuart Vol. 3

Editorial Review :
Roy Stuart III is a series of remarkably hot photo stories. -- Playboy, May 2001
Continuing to break down the boundaries of sexual politics with his provocative photography, Roy Stuart's most recent work is more explicit than ever. With the groundwork laid in Volumes I and II, Stuart ventures further into the ambivalent relationship between reality and illusion, using role-playing to parody conventional ideas of sex. More daring, more subversive, Volume III features Stuart's most focused work to date. As an attack on the artificiality of the fashion industry's ideas of sexiness and beauty, Stuart has included a "before and after" section; here you'll find simple shots of the models as they are (without makeup) and photos of them after being "transformed". His latest subjects also include older women, who, in their non-conformity to orthodox standards of beauty, are awkwardly out of place in their roles as dolled-up sex objects. What is society teaching us about sexual attraction? Does western culture brainwash us into taking on traditional sexual roles, wherein women must be beautiful and men must be dominant? Forget what mainstream society has taught you about power roles, desirability, and body image. Stuart depicts a world where barriers are abolished and women share the same sexual license as men. Very hot and very cutting-edge, Volume III is a must-have!

Roy Stuart The Fourth Body

Editorial Review :
Roy Stuart has been at it again, traipsing around Paris from luxury apartments to the streets, capturing men and women defiantly acting out their sexual fantasies. From peek-a-boo panties to same-sex petting to more "indiscreet" activities, Stuart’s titillating mises-en-scene challenge us to break loose from traditional moral codes. Featuring not only young, perky-bodied women but also females of a certain age, these images are more hardcore and more daring than anything Stuart has ever produced. Also included are a rare interview with Stuart and images from his first feature film, giving a taste of what Stuart’s future offerings will bring us (he plans to devote himself solely to the moving picture after this, his final book.
From the Publisher : Based in Paris with a reputation as a grandmaster of the erotic camera, Roy Stuart has exhibited his work in numerous galleries throughout the world. He has published three best-sellers with TASCHEN prior to this final follow-up collection of subversive, erotic fantasy narratives. The book also contains a DVD which includes excerpts from his soon to be released feature film "The Lost Door".

Roy Stuart V

Editorial Review :
Beyond voyeurism: exploring the female body, attitudes, instincts, and dreams
In the 20th century, when pornography made its debut in the film world with its aura of improvisation and amateurishness, it had a caustic challenging quality, a freshness and a natural authenticity. By becoming industrialized and codified, it then let itself be confined in the twofold ghetto of distribution and its related rituals, churning out a pantomime of crude, unexciting, formatted images. Eroticism has always had "better press," especially since it has often been "involved" with literature and great authors have laid sacrifices on its altar. However, limited by censorship, above all self-censorship, to a restrictive representation of sex, it sentenced itself to insipidness and self-mutilation, believing it could find a way out in vain, repetitive sophistication, paradoxically proving, much to the satisfaction of moralists, that since monotony is always born out of uniformity, prefabricated pornography and eroticism have become, and remain boring.

This realization inspires an artist like Roy Stuart. Taking advantage of Western society's relative freedom, he has investigated the use that can be made of this dilemma. A photographer and film-maker, switching from printed to moving image, he seeks to liberate the image from its final taboos, to escape the conventional representation of sex. But, more than anything else, he has an artistic project, eroticism and beyond voyeurism, he strives to explore the female body, attitudes, instincts, and dreams.

From the Publisher
In his new book, the fifth to date, he hones this exploration into something more forthright, close to film. The photos "tell" short stories, like short films, and the models become actors, their movements caught in freeze frame studies, between portrait and narrative. Sex is more explicit, while retaining some of the mystery characteristic of erotic images. A DVD, which comes with the book, contains several scenes from which the photos are taken, with extracts from the "Glimpse" DVD series and Stuart's full length feature film, The Lost Door. The overall impression produced by this work is that Stuart has introduced eroticism into pornography, or vice versa. He clouds issues, confuses codes, disorientates and takes risks, all the while behaving as an artist who is exploring a new middle road - fusional, original and hard to follow, but promising. Somewhere between simplistic X-rated films and pure eroticism, between trivial reality and abortive dreams, he seeks and finds a third way, the royal way.