Bernadinism by Alva Bernadine (Hardback, 2001) for sale online

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Alva Bernadine's photographic signature is unique, combining elements of surrealism and eroticism with humour. The resulting photographs are astounding, provocative and compelling, and have appeared in Vogue, GQ, Elle and The Sunday Times. As Bernadine himself puts it: 'I take the theatricality of surrealism, the elegance of classical haute couture photography, the narrative of reportage and the refinements of advertising photography and mix them all into a Bernadinian cocktail - a radical photographic synthesis.' Bernadine's photographs can be read at two levels: on the surface, a feast for the eyes; below that, a wealth of sublime, ironic, sometimes provocative allusion. Latex-clad women in their fitted kitchens, female bodies with two lower or upper torsos - these are stories from the subculture of male fantasy, defused somewhat by self-mocking exaggeration and surreal form, though without losing anything of their provocative and pugnacious quality.