Naked Happy Girls

The idea of a photographer asking New York women he meets randomly to pose nude for him is not exactly new -- books with similar approaches include Peter Gorman's Naked in Apartment 7, Greg Friedler's Naked New York, and at a stretch, even Richard Kern's New York Girls -- but Andrew Einhorn does the job proficiently. Einhorn is in his late 30s, and according to his biographical paragraph, he lives in Manhattan and works as a photographer, videographer, editor and comedian.

The photographs are in black and white, taken in different people's appointments. The women look like they are mostly in their twenties, with a few being slightly older. Each has about 8 or 10 photographs, most about 4" x 6" in size. Einhorn manages to make his models relax and there is often a sense of fun to the pictures. (He also appears naked in the background in a few of the photographs.) Most of the women have tattoos, belly-button rings or nipple piercings. The first woman, Skye, has two kittens with her, clambering over her and looking very sweet. The contrast between the fluffy kitten and the metal of Skye's nipple rings is effective. Many other women pose with their cats or dogs. Other models use other props. Andrea smokes a cigarette in many of the pictures of her, while Cara inhales some marijuana in one. Various models lounge about on sofas, sit on the floor, or pose standing for the camera. Sometimes they try on different items of clothing or make funny faces.

As a collection of pictures of attractive women, Naked Happy Girls is pleasing and a little unusual. While undoubtedly erotic, it avoids most of the clichés of standard glamour photography. It remains voyeuristic and feminists might condemn it as objectivizing, but it certainly isn't pornographic by contemporary standards. The work is playful and even cheerful, showing beautiful women in natural light. Ultimately though, the book doesn't compare with more provocative and innovative nude photography. There are some strong images, especially those in which the subject looks directly and openly into the camera, because in those, the women convey their own power, and show themselves as equal to the photographer and the viewer.