Revelation: Representations of Christ in Photography FROM THE CRITICS
The New York Times
Starting with the cover, a publicity picture by Annie Leibovitz of the cast of ''The Sopranos'' having a last supper, the book takes an ironic and sometimes irreverent approach that includes the work of Julia Margaret Cameron, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Duane Michals, Andres Serrano and Pierre et Gilles. Obviously, if people choose to be outraged, there are representations here that will oblige them.
— Andy Grundberg
Publishers Weekly
With an Annie Leibovitz image of The Sopranos posed as if comprising The Last Supper on the cover, this book may be blasphemous to some, but it riffs on an artistic tradition that is hundreds of years old. Perez, curator of photography at the Israel Museum, notes in his introduction that a trait that differentiates relgiously allusive photography from painting "is the unconditional focus on the person acting as Christ while the background generally suffers from an obvious lack of attention." Photos from 19th-century masters like Julia Margaret Cameron, Fred Holland Day and Oscar Gustav Rejlander bear this out; their composed images of Christ and the Virgin rivet attention on the figures. Yet Orlan's Madonna at the Garage in Assumption on a Pneumatic offers a colorful visual composition worthy of Van Eyck. With 195 plates, including work from Man Ray, Robert Mapplethorpe and young British artist Sam Taylor-Wood, the book covers a lot of photographic ground. The final essay, "Jesus on the Silver Screen," explores the possibilities of Christian imagery in moving pictures. The title's promised revelation may not come, but this is a welcome update to a dormant genre. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Perez focuses on Christian iconography-both sacred and secular-as viewed through the mechanical eye of the camera. Photographer Annie Leibovitz's cover image, a reinterpretation of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, sets the book's tone and scope. Using the cast of The Sopranos, Leibovitz emulates da Vinci's painting, making Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) into Jesus. Obviously, no photographic images of Christ exist, making the medium of photography a complex choice for such subject matter. This is the first book to examine these complexities, and it does so in a thorough and scholarly manner, featuring 195 photographs along with essays by Perez and Adele Reinhartz (biblical studies, McMaster Univ., Canada). These important essays provide both historical and cultural contexts for a wide range of images from the Shroud of Turin to Andres Serrano's Piss Christ. Many important photographers are represented, including Julia Margaret Cameron, Man Ray, Paul Strand, and Robert Mapplethorpe. The book accompanies an exhibition of the same name at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, where Perez is curator of photography. Highly recommended for all academic libraries.-Shauna Frischkorn, Millersville Univ., PA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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