You must be logged in to post a review.
Please log in
1
Person Reviewed This Item
By rachael johnson
Oct 15, 2009
"'In Real Lives' by Cristopher Kamper " Wow! A beautiful book that delightfully engages its viewer and flows poetically through each case study. Chris outline’s his concept clearly and concisely, leaving the viewer informed but not influenced. I love the idea of this book; it’s so endearing and personal but also interesting and insightful. The first case study documents Phillip and his hobby captured in his bedroom with all his manga and anime models, figurines and computer software. Chris reveals Phillip in his element at his internet connection station, whilst also contrasting these perhaps more mundane, documentary-style images with some heart-warming portraits of Phillip. An image that particularly stood out to me in this series, captures Phillip head-banging and ‘playing his air guitar’ like a rock star in amongst his precious collection of anime and manga figurines. Chris demonstrates an amazing ability to capture such a personal and touching still of Phillip that’s... More > able to communicate so much energy and passion, as well as contentment whilst knowing that the viewer is looking at him. The second series looks at Ming and her love of Lolita fashion. Again Chris informs and excites the viewer with images of Ming’s dress-making tools and equipment and detailed sketches/plans. The affect of these images places emphasis on Ming’s attention to detail and how consuming her hobby is. The use of antithesis works superbly, as Chris captures Ming and some of her friends/ acquaintances linked through Lolita trend all dressed in this doll-like style. The images are effortless extensions of these children’s fantasy-styled dressed, beautifully capturing the heart of these girls’s passion. My favorite image from this series shows the girls in the fore-ground walking away into a wintery forest, along a pebbled path. This image is so perfectly dreamlike and through its cinematic aesthetic it conjuring connotations of Alice and Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. The third and final Series presents Cindy. She plays role-playing games and immerses herself with everything that surround it including writing stories, inventing characters and playing out sequences in real life. Again Chris executes the transition between the more documentary, informative images of Cindy’s belongings and surroundings, and the fantastically epic and digitized representations, capturing Cindy’s role-playing her character Fynn. Once again, stunning images! This book is so emotively insightful, whilst consistently presenting perfectly executed images. It was a pleasure to read and review….you must check it out because I haven’t done it justice!< Less
