Jungle Fever (David Vance)

The book is breathtaking to put it mildly. I have always been a great lover of David Vance's work for a number of years, and JUNGLE FEVER ranks among his very best. His models are works of art in themselves, and he brings out their great beauty through his camera and the wonderful settings he provides these paragons of physical excellence. The book itself is a joy to hold, and each page causes one to be amazed even more.

Beautful book. A fine addition to our library of photo/art books...lovely presentation, I was happy to happen upon it while shopping for less "inspiring" additions!

The photography of the book was so beautiful and the contents were well organized! I would recommend this highly as a coffee table book.

This book reminded me of the exhibit ASHES AND SNOW, it's like a dream. Beautiful photography, art direction and of course subjects.

I'm amazed by the unanimously positive feedback for this book. Clearly both "beauty" and "sensuality" lie in the eye of the beholder, but what I saw in this book are a brace of sculpturally beautiful young men photographed in some of the most ludicrously contrived positions and settings imaginable. Only a few seem to be posing naturally....or even comfortably. [How many young men would choose to wear a tree branch for a headpiece?] I know there will always be an urge to justify photographing nudes by making the pictures "artistic"...but this book drives through "Artsy" and arrives at pure "Camp." Clearly this book has its admirers; but if you're expecting to see natural looking young men in (genuinely) natural settings, you may want to peruse a copy before you buy it.

David understands lighting and the male form very well. The book is an inspiration and has a lot of beautiful shots.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a former assistant (1988-1990) of David Vance's. And he fired me. Truth be told? What I saw then (I worked with him extensively on THE WOODS, a brilliant b/w book which shows more than the flora and fauna of the woods) did not, in any way, lead me to believe what I see David doing now. The man is a master artist, and blessed with the unique ability to manipulate light in the most beautiful ways possible. JUNGLE FEVER is David's first self-published book, and, hopefully, not his last, although I firmly believe the "major names" in publishing are missing out in this age of image oversaturation and iPhone photo-hype. David has done more than carve out a niche for himself: he stands alone, today, and for a long time prior, as a brilliant visionary of the male figure. Having lived in Miami, I know what it's like to hear a dead palm frond drop from a stately tree. For David? This is an opportunity to run out and see what it looks like, wondering if there's a photo there, somewhere. And for him, there's always more than a photo. JUNGLE FEVER is a lavishly printed book, awash in the mid-tones of the color spectrum, somehow David's "green" period. But to say it's his "green" period would not do justice to the warm browns, and the studio shots of creatures none of us, bar David, could imagine existing. There are many worlds in the mind of David Vance, and patiently and steadily, he is in tune with them, and we are fortunate to see the images unfold in the pages of his many books. Knowing David as a strict black and white photographer, pre-computer, it's just breathtaking to see the imagery he is pumping out of his studio, day after day after day. My wish would be to be his assistant now, the brilliance and stateliness of the images I am seeing leaving me awestruck. As a photographer myself, I know the way "to the top" is to have a gimmick, or to be colloquially "in bed" with a series of art directors. Not having either, sometimes this stops me in my tracks in my own work. But with David's work, there's nothing but David's world, and the next sunrise to bring the next image. His studio work, where he maintains the strictest of controls on his lighting, is where I am left most speechless. The Shine. The Saturation. The Sense of Timeliness. The Sense of Somewhere, Someplace. I know David well enough to know that he knows little of the history of photography, and equally much of contemporary image-making. It's not a pompous nature, nor is it ego-driven. It's David working: whether he's sketching, sculpting, writing, or working on his other projects, or, God forbid, the work that keeps the studio doors opens. But with the opening of each door, and the entrance of each new model, I can practically hear the giggles of possibility, also made real by David's serious right-hand man, his studio manager of decades, the model Kyle Plyler himself. David is, to be frank, locked in a world of his own, too busy to take the phone calls, too busy to be bothered with the bottom line. David Vance is the last of a breed in today's 24/7 world of instant celebrity and fabulosity. With the camera in his hand, and the light "just right" David is the Michelangelo of our time, the god Zeus with his head full of other gods and goddesses waiting to explode outward. And if the Goddess Venus were to appoint a personal photographer to capture the beauty of the human form, she'd pick David as the most beautiful and talented of her creations to capture the beauty and magnificence of her own creations. The thing about David is that he's too quiet. Highly critical of his own work. And, (he'll kill me) full of self-doubt. This, however, is what fuels him, and makes him the master of the lens which he is today, and has been for some time now. He is no "flash in the pan" and he's no "fabulous under 40" and he's beyond The Black Book image of guys running on the beach with a stately great dane named Kaiser. Today, David is The King. To be in his presence is to be in the presence of someone who knows of, and lives in, a world so unlike the world we all live in: beauty. The edge upon which David dances is brilliant and somehow teasingly decadent. But what a world it is. To know David through his work in JUNGLE FEVER is to know a man approaching the top of his game. I'd say "at the top of his game" but that would lead to nothing but downhill. And when I look at the images in both his 2012 calendar and JUNGLE FEVER, I just wonder, with extreme anticipation...what's next? Kudos, David. Here's to your "green" period. I look forward to your next tome. You're fired!

When I held a promotional copy of this book in order to write the introduction for David, I could only imagine how spectacular it would be to hold the book in its full printing. Now, I am thrilled beyong my highest expectations. This new book by David Vance is the last word in coffee table photography books. It sits on mine, and I find myself going back to it, every time i'm in the room.I am never disappointed. That David is the best of the best, goes without saying..that he is an artist's artist......but, here in Jungle Fever, he tops himself. There really is nothing like this book out there. You'll have to buy it...you must, in order to enjoy its many joys, its artistic vision, its breathtaking sensuality.If you crave, and admire, beauty as do I, this is the book. There is just one David Vance....he was working well before the others, Bianchi, Ritts, and Weber...and still he's never stopped his imagination, and his ongoing growth, he's as wise as a master, and as young as a colt; forever fascinating......Jungle Fever is a classic, it was already ,even on the printing presses.....and now it's ours. Trust me, buy it, and you, too, will never be disappointed.....

I was really looking forward to getting this book and to be honest, it is terrific. However some of the photos that try to be 'artistic' don't really do it for me. I wish they'd just publish pictures of hot naked masculine guys with no special effects and other background nonsense.