I am a great admirer of Ruth Bernhard's work. Her photographic books often refer to her father's lack of sympathy for her, but it was shocking to realize how poorly both of her parents treated her. As a result, it was incredibly heart-warming to realize that she had forgiven both of them. The book goes on to detail a woman who mostly raised herself and became an outstanding contributor both as an artist and as a teacher. The book contains many photographs of Ms. Bernhard, her family, and her work. The memoir is a perfect complement to her books of photographic images such as the remarkable, The Eternal Body.

This book is based on recorded conversations between Ms. Margaretta Mitchell (no relation) and Ms. Bernhard when Ms. Bernhard was well past 90. So the main outlines of her life are there, but many of the details are fuzzy.

Ms. Bernhard's parents were divorced when she was two. She could not remember seeing her mother until she was nine. Closer to her father, he too was distant. "Really, he didn't like children at all." On the other hand, her father, "Lucian Bernhard was the most important person in my life until I met Edward Weston." Through most of her life, she "wanted to be her father, the artist."

Lucian Bernhard was a graphic artist who later expanded into painting and sculpture. He was known as the "father of the German poster." He was exceptionally precise and punctilious in all aspects of his life. Both of his marriages seem to have been severely troubled, and he seemed emotionally barren. Financially, he was supportive of his daughter, even though he was a disaster in failing to provide a shoulder to lean on.

Both of her parents remarried, but those new marriages produced siblings and step-parents who made things more difficult for Ms. Bernhard. She could really relate to all of those fairy tales about evil step-mothers. One of the saddest moments in the book comes when she recounts how her mother passed up a chance to see her one last time in order to tend to her dogs instead.

As a result of seeing these marriages, "I never considered marriage for myself." She did have loving relations with both men and women that provided her an emotional foundation that childhood did not.

The book also recounts how she took photographs of nude models for her father's illustrations and posed nude for one of her first lovers. These experiences gave her a special sense of the model's perspective in nudes that made her work surpass everyone else. Ansel Adams called her "the greatest photographer of the nude."

More details about her relationship with Edward Weston are provided here than I have seen elsewhere, including some correspondence published for the first time. "When I first saw Weston's work, I burst into tears." This was the first time that the potential of photography to become art became clear to her.

Although she admired his work and had a terrific relationship with him, it was flirtation rather than indescretion. Mrs. Weston saw her as a rival, though. In this book, Ms. Bernhard notes that she came to see the flaws in the way Weston did his nudes . . . manipulating the models in ways that she finds inappropriate. You will find these comments to be interesting when you compare the works of the two photographers. I think Ms. Bernhard definitely has the better work of the two with nudes.

I especially enjoyed the section on her teaching, and the ending of her career in taking photographs.

You will also learn about the carbon monoxide poisoning that affected her health during her later years.

I came away with even greater admiration for Ms. Bernhard than I could ever have imagined. She is a marvel for having transformed her personal pain into so much beauty for us all.

When she said, "light is the real teacher" I think that she was modestly saying that whatever she learned, she taught herself.

After you read this story, I suggest that you think about how you can take events and circumstances that make you feel unhappy or unloved and transform them into beauty.

Open up all of the wonder in your imagination to see the beauty waiting to be revealed to your heart!

Ruth Bernhard Between Art & Life is a perfect compliment to The Eternal Body. This new book gives the reader a very intimate glimpse of Ruth Bernhard's personal development and artistic development. Her ability to see light and natural forms and to express her vision as a master photographer stems from her very lonely early years as a child.

Her father Lucian Bernhard, a renowned artist and type designer denied her love and recognition, had poor, egocentric relationships with women, yet encouraged her free thinking and artistic expression. It is ironic, and a tribute, that Ruth Bernhard found her identity, forgave her father, and expressed her sense of natural, eternal beauty through photography.

The book contains most of the images in The Eternal Body with stories about their creation and the the models. The text explains the photographs are a result of intuition, and does not delve into technical aspects.

This is a beautiful venture by Ruth Bernhard and Margaretta Mitchell. I collect fine art photography and related books and feel this is the most revealing book about a master photographer in my collection. You will be pleased.

For those who are interested in inspiring portrayal of the human body, this book is a must! It is one of the finest collections of female nudes ever done. The images, reproduction, and paper are all superb. The book clearly deserves more than five stars!

The images in this book would garner an R rating if the book were a motion picture.

Ms. Bernhard takes a different approach to nude photography, partly in reaction to the exploitive work that some men do. She says, "I photograph a woman as part of the universe." She feels that "a minute insect, a mountain range, a human body -- all share equal significance." As a result she notes that "much of my work shares a similar intention [to a Japanese Haiku]." She wants to "illuminate the innate life force and spirit as well as the underlying remarkable bone structure." She looks on these photographs as being similar to the problem of composing a still life. She wants to create a "heightened emotional response" and is "deeply aware of my spiritual connection with it." She is responding to a "great yearning for balance and harmony beyond the realm of human experience, reaching for the essence of oneness with the Universe."

Margaretta Mitchell (no relation) points out that the work stands primarily for going "beyond cultural stereotypes of women." In doing so, Ms. Bernhard has created "focused meditations." She "directs her forms with studio lighting where the model is transfigured by light into sculpture." As a result, you see an "ideal radiant form." She is one of the "masters of the subtleties of lighting." The work evokes much of the majesty of Michaelangelo, Rodin, and Henry Moore.

Finally, from Ms. Bernhard, "The female body is the bearer of new life, it is so very innocent."

You will come away from seeing these images refreshed and reawakened.

My favorites here include: At the Pool, 1951; Dancer in Repose, 1951; Draped Torso, 1962; In the Box, Horizontal, 1962; Two Forms, 1963; Perspective II, 1967; Sand Dune, 1967; Profile, 1967; Transparent, 1968; Dream Figure, 1968; Rice Paper, 1969; Hourglass, 1971; Balancing, 1971; Spanish Dancer, 1971; Symbiosis, 1971; In the Window, 1971; and Resting, 1972.

Many of these images use the human body to evoke nature, our connection to nature, and the similarity of forms throughout nature. For example, in Sand Dune a woman's body is transformed into a landscape.

After you have enjoyed this great book, I suggest that you consider where else you can see connections from one person to another, and from people to objects and vice versa. That can expand your enjoyment of all that surrounds you, as well as open you to experiencing more joy.

Look for the eternal in all you examine!

Ruth Bernhard's photographs are much sought after and the prices have climbed incredibly the past five years. This book explains why without words. Her nudes are classic in every sense of the word. Easily enjoyed by anyone, this book can also serve as an exceptional instruction tool for aspiring photographers.