David Hamilton – Twenty Five Years of an Artist
Text by Philippe Gautier
Dorset Press, 1992, 316 pages
ISBN 1-55619-358-3
David Hamilton was a popular photographer known primarily for his nude figure studies of underage girls. This generated a certain amount of controversy, as some people found this choice of subject matter to be inappropriate or distasteful. Late in his life, however, a new controversy erupted when several of his former models accused him of molesting them, accusations he vehemently denied… shortly before he committed suicide.
With his passing, we will likely never know if these accusations are true or not. However, this raises the question of how we should approach his work today: how can we accept his work if he molested his models, but how can we reject his work if the accusations are unproven? As this question has no easy or simple answer, the remainder of this review will ignore the controversy surrounding Hamilton's life and concentrate solely on his work.
When this book was published, Hamilton was at the height of his popularity, with many exhibitions, books, and movies to his credit. This 25 year retrospective is thus perhaps the definitive work on David Hamilton's art.
Hamilton's nudes comprise the majority of the photographs featured in this book. And, just to be clear, these photos are not pornographic in the traditional sense: there are no depictions of explicit sexual acts, although a certain amount of sexual innuendo is sometimes present. The main issue is the age of the models, which offends some people. If you are not bothered by the young models, then these figure studies are stunningly beautiful.
A small selection of Hamilton's other work is also included: landscapes, architectural studies, and flowers. These, like the figure studies, are all done in Hamilton's signature soft-focus style, in both black & white and color. Hamilton was perhaps the foremost modern master of the soft-focus technique, consistently producing dreamy, ethereal images.
The text contains a detailed biography of Hamilton's life and career, along with a discussion of his approach to photography. There are a large number of smaller photos accompanying the text. These include snapshots of Hamilton, behind-the-scenes images of him working, examples of his early work (not soft-focus), and some formal portraits that he made (also not soft-focus).
Although I don't know if Hamilton ever described himself as a pictorialist, he did state that he drew much of his inspiration from the paintings of the old masters, and that he used the soft-focus technique so that his photographs would look more like paintings. Both of these were important elements of the original pictorialist movement, so Hamilton could be considered a modern pictorialist.
In the end, I can't really recommend this book one way or the other… too much is going to depend upon how a prospective reader views the controversy surrounding Hamilton's choice of subject matter and life. I can say that the book has excellent production qualities and would be a good choice if you're only going to get one book on David Hamilton.
Reference:
For a more in-depth look at the phenomenon of popular artists whose private lives include distasteful or terrible aspects, I can recommend "Love the Art, Hate the Artist" from the Art Assignment video series, produced by PBS Digital Studios: