20 ~ Wednesday, March 8, 1989 - North Shore News PHOTO HARR! PECCINOTT: HISTORY LESSON Pirelli Calendar Album worth an ogle TO EVERYTHING there is a season — and this holds true for those large-format, glossy and usually expensive works commonly known as coffee table books. Publishers rely heavily on their appeal as Christmas gifts and tend to shun releases during the re- mainder of the year. This week we'll take a brief look at six notable exceptions with sub- jects ranging from the evolution of pin-up calendar nudes to the Alaskan wilderness. Having to studiously examine 211 pages of naked and semi- MIKE STEELE book reviewer naked women is an arduous task fee which few of us ave really prepared. Still, enthusiasm can make up for premature salivation. The Pirelli Calendar Album is, it must be said, not the exploitive, nin-of-the-mill, ‘sexational’ exer- cise that some might presume. In- stead this is a historical look (or ogie) at the evolution of the famous Pirelli calendar beauties and od style o over the past 25 years. Pirelli Calendar Album provides readers and fans with a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the changing values, goals, social mores and technical details of successive calendars’ composition and development. Certainly one of the things that struck me most strongly was the transition of the employment of the female form in this format, from the un- sophisticated look of the sixties to the high-tech, artistic product of the eighties. The contrast is quite remarkable and at times even amusing (Pavilion/Penguin; 4CO color illustrations; $45 in hard- cover). And now, onwards to glorious peaks of another variety as seen in Untamed Alaska (Thomasson- Grant/Raincoast; 80 color photographs; 128 pp.; $49.95 in hardcover). Steve and Yogi Haufman, a fa- ther-and-son team of accomplish- ed wildlife photographers, have done a superb job of conveyin; something of the rugged splendor of the Alaskan wilderness in this book. Images capture the state’s flora and fauna beautifully in most cases (shots of smoking volcanoes surrounded by snow and ice are particularly dramatic), but there are several minor exceptions | would have taken pains to delete had | been editing this book. Take the case of the fairly typical bird/animal profile shot for exam- ple. If the subject's eye is in shadow it greatly diminishes the impact of the image; the gleam of life and identifying coloration are missing. I'm actually surprised that these photographers included several glaringly weak images of this type in this collection given the skills they evidence so dramatically in general (in particular, they earn top marks for excellent stills of Bald Eagles, Arctic foxes, a Snowy Owl and a breathtaking one of a Tufted Puffin that has no equal). Yet another Thormasson-Grant/ Raincoast book is Florida Rediscovered (83 color photographs; 95 pp.; $39.95 in hardcover) but this one, unlike Untamed Alaska, basically left me unmoved. True, there are some great wildlife and natural outdoors shots, but the juxtapositioning of these with city and architectural images seemed too dissonant for my tastes. tn total the effect was more one of a postcard collection rather than anything definitive. See Warplanes Page 24 THE 1969 photographs of Harri Peccinotti. are featured Pirelli Calendar Album. in the THE SPORTS NETWORK- Sizzling Competition and Spectacular Feats! 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