Shaven Venus
A blonde Latvian girl named Agnese, as young and as beautiful as a "Shaven Venus" travels through Italy.
She´s accompanied on her sexy trip by cult photographer Ralf Vulis‚ camera, which takes photos of her in front of the landmarks of Venice and Rome.
The duo bubbles and sparkles their way through public spaces, which Agnese and Vulis unashamedly exploit as their stage set.
Vulis artfully weds exhibitionism and voyeurism to create
an intimate game that's full of exciting possibilities - and another new highlight
for all Vulis‚ fans!
..........
Presscomments
"Provocation and exhibitionism: Vulis's pretty Latvian
model exposes her breasts and shaven pubes in front of Italy's best-known
architectural monuments. And once again, the results are unbelievably sexy."
Playboy
____
"Life is beautiful! The young Latvian girl in this
new volume of photos by Ralf Vulis shows herself with shaven pubes and a coyly
promising smile on her pretty face."
Union
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Foreword of this book
Una provocazione bella
What could be more beautiful than combining beauty with beauty? That's why Ralf Vulis's idea is so simple and so beautiful: to photograph lovely Agnese in front of Venetian and Roman landmarks. The combination sparkles and bubbles amidst Italy's streets and canals, which serve here as a kind of stage set. Vulis weds exhibitionism with voyeurism in a playful marriage that's full of endless new possibilities.
Typical for Vulis is the fact that each and every picture in this book conveys an uninhibited atmosphere and the legendary cheerfulness of his models - two qualities which had already distinguished his earlier works. But rather than merely repeating himself or offering us familiar images in new wrappings, Ralf Vulis tells a genuinely new story.
Together with his model, he evolves a provocation - not an aggressive provocation, but an erotic one. For former playmate Agnese, it's una provocazione bella.
Vulis takes us aboard a boat as we explore the canals of city in the lagoon. We sit opposite the blonde beauty as the Mediterranean sun shines on us. It doesn't take long before we begin to feel a bit hot under the collar - not solely because of the warm sunshine. Vulis takes us to the Coliseum and we stroll with him through the Forum Romanum. But we've long since forgotten the photographer because our gaze is riveted to Agnese. Vulis's invisible camera has elevated us to an enviable status: it has made us the companion of this gorgeous blonde.
A game has begun. But in this peculiar game, it's by no means clear who is playing with whom. Is the young woman the object when our gaze wanders over her face and when we feast our eyes on her luscious curves? Or are we the object, vulnerably exposed and powerless to resist the provocation of her eyes and body?
If, while looking at the photos in this book, one catches oneself glancing quickly in all directions to be sure that no one else is peering over our shoulder to catch a glimpse of the pictures, then one has already internalized the effect of Vulis's photographic style. Agnese's provocation is, of course, nothing other than a torrid flirt. Her inviting gaze is meant for the viewer, and it is solely for him that she reveals her body. This erotic game never seems passé because of Agnese's youthful charm. And, of course, because of her smoothly shaven pubes, which signal her purity, innocence, and vulnerability. It goes without saying that that she's a creature who responds only to tenderness and who cannot bear aggression.
Here the tender creature; there the monumental landmarks: Vulis uses the background motifs to give his pictures a cleverly calculated tension. Notwithstanding the historical significance of the old walls and ruins, they stand or crumble as symbols of impermanence and decay - and form a marvelous contrast to the youthfulness of Vulis's lovely model. Conversely, the palace of the Doge and the Roman Coliseum have already survived for centuries, while the blonde beauty symbolizes the passing moment - and invites us to enjoy life now.
Ralf Vulis's latest book continues the brilliance of his conceptual photo book 100 Naked Girls on a Chair and the wonderful insights into the life of the Sexy Girl Next Door. Ever since the publication of his longterm bestseller Crazy Sexy Girls, Vulis has enjoyed cult status in his chosen metier - a status that he has earned with his spontaneous creativity and his sense for imaginative scenarios and for relationships between people, all of which are so charmingly evident when he invites his models to play the coquette in front of his camera's unblinking eye. His trademarks are cheerful nude girls, not strictly constructed settings that slavishly adhere to the rules of the high art of photography and in which the model is just another object among many others or merely another element of the linear design.
It might sound simple, but it certainly isn't. Ralf
Vulis is the undisputed master of simplicity in its ultimate perfection. His
photos are even more than that. They're life itself. And as the Italians know
so well, la vita è bella!
Karl Schönholtz
