Goliath Books: My Favorite Model

My Favorite Model: 43 Outstanding Photographers Portray 44 Gorgeous Models is an interesting photo anthology from Goliath. With a couple of exceptions, each entry fulfills the inspired idea of having a series of images of the same beautiful woman photographed by the same photographer. Some of these are quite varied and show a real range of looks and some are more specific in appearance. It is interesting to consider how a single photographer might work in a variety of ways with one specific muse. I wonder if each of these muses is really that specific photographer’s favorite model, as these appear to be all accomplished people who have shot many women, but it is very nice to look at and interesting to think about. My Favorite Model was well-edited by Miki Bunge and Stephanie Kuhnen and nicely designed by Tanja Oberst. The book closes with a mini-bio of each photographer, however, and lists details of things like what equipment they use, which could be very useful for aspiring visual artists. I wish they had done full interviews with the photographers and not just the models because, if the idea is that the model is the photographer’s favorite or one of their favorites, then I’d like to know what the reasons are. The images are all high quality artistic erotica, but the styles are visually very varied in terms of type of scene and colors and general feel, which really holds the reader’s interest. The amount of alt cred in this book really shows how much the alt aesthetic is infiltrating all things artistic and erotic.

One of my favorite series in the book is the cool damp blue-toned shots of Michaela by Richard Murrien. I also like the rough and tumble look of Zamra by Josef Botello, the gothic fetish cuteness of Valeria by Emma Delves-Broughton, and the dark vintage fetish elegance of Eden by Sabine Schoenberger. The only model to be featured by more than one photographer in the book is altmodel Ulorin Vex (Bizarre , SuicideGirls, Nena Blue by Katja Ehrhardt and by Russell Coleman. Other alt notables include Justine Joli (BlueBlood, StaggStreet) by Nathan Strausse, Dragonlilly (UltimateSurrender) by Octavio Arizala (Vivid-Alt), Kumi (BlueBlood) by Eric Martin, Roxy DeVille (BlueBlood, Vivid-Alt, BurningAngel‘s HeavyMetalPussyParty) by Sexkicks, Lorraine Sisco (BlueBlood) by Christine Kessler (GodsGirls, BlueBlood), Ivy Red (BlueBlood, Hogtied, MenInPain, WaterBondage, WhippedAss) by Aaron Hawks, original alternative fetish pinup queen Julie Strain by Renard F. Garr, and Bob Coulter (CrazyBabe) shooting Nadia Nitro.