book review: Classic Modern Pinups, by Robert Alvarado
When I first heard news that Robert Alvarado was (finally!) publishing a book of his best pinup photographs, I was excited. I’ve been a huge fan of his work ever since I first came across his portfolio on Model Mayhem and several other photography forums. I even attended a workshop where he explained his lighting and posing of the models, as well as his Photoshop techniques.
Drawing inspiration from the classic pin-up artist like Gil Elvgren and Vargas, Robert Alvarado had steadily fine-tuned his skills as a photographer in this style. Alvarado photographs beautiful women in this stylized way, and then finessing the images with Photoshop to give a glossy air-brushed look … lending the images a look that is definitely and recognizably his.
145 images in this 144 page book, means that nearly all images have their own page. There are a few 2-up layouts, but most images are on their own. No distracting elements. Just beautiful photographs in a large 9×12 book.
What surprised me when I paged through the book, is that a fair number of his photographs which I really like, didn’t make it for selection in this book. And that’s testament to the breadth of Alvarado’s work. He can produce such a beautiful volume as this, yet there is probably enough other images that he could release a volume 2 effortlessly, and it would be just as stunning!
There’s not much more to say except that this book has a proud place on my shelf along with the likes of Richard Avedon and other great photographers – books that I often reference for inspiration and ideas. There’s no higher compliment that I can give.
Other photography books
Alvarado knows his stuff really, really well. His threads on DWF are some of the most viewed. I did not know he had a book out, thanks for sharing!
Neil – Does this book explains the technique behind those images ?
Thanks for sharing.
-MP