The Customized Body

The book seems to be super focused on nudity. Normally that's okay, with some other content, but this just somehow missed the mark. I'll probably sell this one, but they have a good idea, just poor execution. On the plus side, I now know there are like 7 ways to pierce a dong...

A fantastic collaboration between Ted Polhemus (frequent contributor to the UK publication bodyart) and Housk Randall (photographer extraordinaire). What do you define as body art? This book covers tattooing, piercing, scarification, branding, hair dressing (head and pubic) and shaving, finger and toe nails, body building, plastic surgery and gender identity. The catalog is extensive but still retains a warm, intimate feeling. The portraits are sepia tone, showing many variations on what it is to be individual.Good for the beginner as this volume will provide an excellent overview of body art. Valuable for the collector due to the quality of the portraits and breadth of body art depicted, supported by the personal and intelligent commentary.

This book does an excellent job of documenting the ways in which people are remaking their bodies to their own specifications rather than those of their birth. The text is well-written, and the photos are technically and artistically pleasing. As a body art enthusiast and a fan of Housk Randall-Goddard, I highly recommend this one.

...of many recent books on body modification and the attendant culture. Probably the best follow-up to "RE/Search 12: Modern Primitives" in its respectful and knowledgeable approach. Exquisite black and white photos of beautifully adorned men and women, revealing themselves in every way: their desire for freedom and transformation, their sometimes troubled histories, their quest for new identities or for exploring their old ones. I used to work in an independent bookstore whose owner would get upset with me when I stocked books like this. Let some people live in a world of banality and the everyday; the rest, rejoice!

I really enjoyed the anthroplogical perspective of this book. There are chapters on tatooing, piercing, body painting, weight lifting, cosmetic surgery... All ways to customize what God (or your genes) gave you. Very readable and full of corresponding photos.