THE BOOK OF OLGA – PHOTOGRAPHY by {BETTINA RHEIMS}
Posted by Karin | Filed under Literature | Book Review, Photography
French photographer Bettina Rheims’s sexiest book ever: daring portraits of a gorgeous woman commissioned by her millionaire husband. Limited to 1,000 copies worldwide, each numbered and signed by Bettina Rheims.
Femme fatale Olga Rodionova is a well-known beauty who moves in Moscow’s fashion and jet set circles.When her adoring husband, a powerful Russian oligarch, sought to have special portraits made of his wife, he asked none other than Bettina Rheims - an unusual request for a photographer of Rheims’s stature.
Rheims was captivated by Olga’s unique aura and felt excited by the challenge of finding aesthetic ways of doing the portraits so that they didn’t feel like run of the mill pornography.
The first shoot took place in Rheims’s country home and Olga’s husband was so pleased with the images that he suggested they produce a book with Olga as the star. A second shoot followed, in black and white with a sado-masochistic décor and other men and women playing slightly perverse sex games with Olga.
A third, Marie-Antoinetteinspired shoot took place entirely in the studio. Rheims succeeded in finding a variety of ways to depict one subject with a continuous freshness and intrigue; The Book of Olga represents the most delectable fruits of her success.
With over one hundred images, as well as an introduction by French author Catherine Millet, this unique book is both a love song and an artistic statement.
Inspired by her passion for art and female portraiture, Bettina Rheims devoted herself wholly to photography beginning in 1978. In the past three decades she has produced many major series of works for books and exhibitions. In 2007 she was awarded the Légion d’Honneur for her artistic achievement.
This book is HOT ! Olga is utterly gorgeous and Bettina Rheims has given a new sensation to the word SEXY!
To get your book, click on: TASCHEN
xoxo Karin
Tags: Bettina Rheims, Fantasy Wife, Jed Root, Russian Oligarch, Taschen, Taschen books, The Book of Olga
