Pornoland

The photos are beautiful and aproach the subject - pornography industry - with a sensible touch, as well as display this universe on a rather unusual way. The images are at the same time poetical and documental ( which means that we can figure out real people behind porn icons). The presentation text, by Martin Amis, whom I think, do not need a formal presentation since he is one of the best known contemporary british writers, also focuses the people and their motivations beyond the characters they play in the media / product they sell.Photographer de Luigi has a very accurate aesthetic sense as much as is good enough to catch his subject avoiding deja vu, posing and vulgarity.

PORNOLAND is not what you would imagine from the title: this is not a down-and-dirty expose of the seamy exploitation of pornography. This book is a running commentary on the world of making Porn movies, an industry that has flourished since the first movie camera was made (and indeed, in etchings and drawings that date back centuries in time!). Photographer Stefano de Luigi has traveled to Los Angeles, Milan, Budapest, Prague, Tokyo, and Dortmund and captured the process involved of making low budget, negligibly scripted, one-movie-per-day pornography flicks: his photographs are more about color and atmosphere on set than they are about the actors at work. The impact of this voyeuristic journey is made more solid by the accompanying writings of Martin Amis (whose novels such as the current 'Yellow Dog' continue to be best sellers). There are no moments of revelation and certainly no judgments made. Instead this is one of those photography books that is satisfied to inform without editorial comment. And the adventures described are worth the ride! Grady Harp, October 2004