Under World by KLEIN, Kelly - 1995

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Small Folio. (35 cm.) 175 pp. (Unpaginated) Black and white photo-pictorial boards, dust jacket with white on black lettering on front and spine, black lettering on white on verso. Slight scuffing to verso of jacket. Fine. Photographer of socialites and supermodels, Kelly Klein is well associated with ex-husband, designer Calvin Klein, whose business was to dress people in "CK" from head to foot -- and beyond. "Under World" is ironically about that fine line between being clothed and being exposed. Over 150 photographs of people in vaious stages of undress have been curated by Kelly. Many of these photos are iconic images from classic and fashion photographers such as Helmut Newton, Robert Mapplethorpe, Bunny Yeager, Jock Sturges, Robert Doisneau and Imogen Cunningham. However, some photographs are from unknown amateurs and consist of snapshots or naughty photocards common at the turn of the 20th Century. The common thread (!!) is that the subject is in a state of dressing or undressing with only the intention of the photographer to treat it as erotic or as artistic. (Naturally, both, at times.) Images in black and white with only a few in color and one double-page fold-out with a subversive shout-out to the work of Eadweard Muybridge. Introduction by Anne Rice.