C'est Si Bon! Jean-François Jonvelle's Sexy Photographs:

January 2, 2002 5:48 AM

C'est Si Bon! Jean-François Jonvelle's Sexy Photographs: He's been photographing women for decades and he just gets closer and closer to l'éternel féminin. Meaning reality. His books are beautiful. And expensive. But here's a very generous, unauthorized gallery(click on the cute fenêtre)of some of his best work. So who's your sexiest photographer?
posted by MiguelCardoso (30 comments total)

MiguelCardoso: I like to look at naked women, too--after all, I'm a lesbian--but a Not Safe For Work warning would have been advisable for the first link.
posted by Carol Anne at 6:04 AM on January 2, 2002

Jonvelle's Sexy Photographs

Hehe what did you expect, Carol Anne. Pix of Mickey Mouse? ;)
posted by slater at 6:25 AM on January 2, 2002

Wow, it sure is easy to be generous with other people's art, isn't it?
posted by kristin at 6:40 AM on January 2, 2002

[hijack]
No offense, Carol Anne, but this whole 'please flag as safe for work' thing really twists my knickers. What are all you people doing reading MeFi at work, anyway? I see so many 'Safe/Not Safe for work' flags all over the place these days, I can't help but wonder if (until my current job, granted) I've actually been in aberrant workplaces where surfing the net for the sheer heck of it was actually discouraged.
[/hijack]

And on refresh, I see kristin's comment and must say : if it's on the web, it's on the web. Like generous is a bad thing.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:47 AM on January 2, 2002

stavrosthewonderchicken: No offense taken. I'm not at work (my new job's hours are 9-5), but I think a Naked Ladies alert is appropriate, if only so early risers like me don't choke on our coffee. Just a suggestion, mind you!
posted by Carol Anne at 6:53 AM on January 2, 2002

Wow, it sure is easy to be generous with other people's art, isn't it?

kristin: I meant generous in the sense of "plentiful". In any case, Jonvelle very probably knows about this site and is OK with it. The guy who put up the photographs says in his "avertissement" he'll take them all down immediately if Jonvelle wants:

"Les photos ici exposées le sont sans aucun accord de l'auteur, mais ont pour seul but de mettre en valeur un travail extraordinaire. Nous espérons qu'il permettra à de nombreux internautes de découvrir ou de redécouvrir ces oeuvres. Si M. Jonvelle le souhaite, nous supprimerons les images présentes sur ce site sur une simple requête de sa part."

So I don't see anything untoward in his hommage. On the contrary, he's done Jonvelle proud.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:13 AM on January 2, 2002

Thanks for the quote Miguel.

Uh . . . huh?
posted by Outlawyr at 7:31 AM on January 2, 2002

If I stop reading MeFi at work, then the terrorists have already won.
posted by adampsyche at 7:34 AM on January 2, 2002

"The photos are shown here without the photographer's permission, but for the sole goal to show off this extraordinary work. We hope that it will permit many internauts to discover or rediscover these works. If Mr. Jonvelle so wishes, we will remove the images on this site after a simple request from him."
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:36 AM on January 2, 2002

Sorry for the eurocentrism, Outlawyr. Here goes:

These photographs are shown without the author's permission. Their sole objective is to draw attention to an extraordinary work. We hope they'll lead numerous web-surfers to discover or rediscover these works. If Mr.Jonvelle so desires, a simple request from him is enough for us to take down the images presented on this site.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:41 AM on January 2, 2002

Well that's a first. And Mr Nickels' translation is better!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:43 AM on January 2, 2002

It's really weird to discover a Frenchman who is so into naked women.
posted by Skot at 7:48 AM on January 2, 2002

l'éternel féminin. Meaning reality.

So reality is that all women are young and beautiful? Gee, what planet have I been on, and how did I get here?
posted by anewc2 at 8:28 AM on January 2, 2002

There's a lot of porn on usenet too, if anyone is interested.
posted by andrew cooke at 10:14 AM on January 2, 2002

i know skot! i'm thinking, "wow, what a visionary! really groundbreaking."
posted by bliss322 at 10:16 AM on January 2, 2002

I was looking through one of his books the other day.

While I tried to distance myself from the blatant sexuality of his work, and attempted to appreciate the, I dunno. . . the eternal platonic forms of the women in his photographs, I just can't do it.

And that's because Jonvell takes his photographs with a lecherous eye. This is a guy who gets off on his work. While this isn't necessairly a bad thing (I like naked ladies a lot too) it's an attitude that pervades his work.

His photographs aren't exactly on a par with hardcore pornography, but the sentiment behind them is of the same vein.
posted by aladfar at 10:28 AM on January 2, 2002

Fancy some spread betting on the number of long latinate words coming up to justify the eternal aesthetic doodah of all this? Any takers on a spread of 3-5? Payment in pron jpegs, with hot rabbit-pancake action worth double.
posted by andrew cooke at 11:22 AM on January 2, 2002

Why can't that site talk in regular English or American like decent folks do?
posted by Postroad at 1:05 PM on January 2, 2002

The French have the word "internautes" for web-surfers? That has to be the coolest thing they've done since french fries and french toast. I'm going to start calling myself an internaut. Or maybe not.
posted by elvissinatra at 2:31 PM on January 2, 2002

I like David LaChapelle's photos, and not just because of the wacky Britney stuff. (more here) His pictures of Gisele aren't exactly subtle either.
posted by owillis at 2:41 PM on January 2, 2002

Safe for Work (unless you work at the ASPCA)
William Wegman notices each one of his weimeraner dogs exhibit a different personality. "Man Ray was a woman of power, depth and hypnotic beauty. In pictures her iron will commands the page. Her daughter, Battina has a look all her own, casting a sweet innocent charm on everything in her path. Sexy and girlish even in maturity and motherhood, Batty is very sleepy-eyed and wistful. Batty's sister Crooky is, by contrast, perky and athletic, spring- loaded, sassy, and fresh." (Intro, Wegman's Fashion Photographs)
Can you believe they're talking about dogs! He's my favorite MC
posted by Eric Lloyd NYC at 4:53 PM on January 2, 2002

Natacha Merritt (explicit nudity, slooow-loading site) is interesting in as much as she was discovered after photographer Eric Kroll (fetish pics) saw her work online. He introduced her to his publishers, those funky folk at Taschen, who then published a book (Nudity! Flash! Music!) of her work.
posted by liam at 5:33 PM on January 2, 2002

fyi, if you're interested in natacha merritt, there's an old mefi thread about her
posted by palegirl at 6:04 PM on January 2, 2002

Evidently l'éternel féminin is located in the asscracks of women. We must wait for them to "candidly" lean over the washing machine so we can get a good glimpse of it!

And Natacha Merritt fills the fashion-posing I'm-pouty "daring" erotica void for those experiencing it.
posted by argybarg at 7:54 PM on January 2, 2002

C'est dommage que No one here has bothered to mention that these are beautiful photos. And to generalize, the one thing the French do well is aesthetics, and nowhere is this more true than when it comes to women. The French notion of beauty is more real than its American counterpart, which usually disappoints, and often depresses me. It's the thing that drew me toFrance in the first place, and motivated me to learn French.

That said, the Web site is likely infringing on the photographer's copyright. But I thank him.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:47 PM on January 2, 2002

What's more "real" in the French notion of beauty?
posted by argybarg at 10:52 PM on January 2, 2002

What's more "real" in the French notion of beauty?

There isn't the adoration of colored hair (esp. blonde). Makeup use is more restrained. And, while it's not "notion" think, per se, the French (still) eat well enough, and have a healthy enough lifestyle that far, FAR fewer women (and people) aren't fat by 40. The first time I was there, I was astounded by the number of beautiful mothers (true, I was 21 at the time...).

Yes, morality and smoking issues...in any case, I'm happily dating a girl from New York.
posted by ParisParamus at 5:11 AM on January 3, 2002

while it's not "notion" think=while it's not a notion of beauty per se,
posted by ParisParamus at 5:13 AM on January 3, 2002

Also, they used to have nude women on their money-- yet another reason the Euro sucks!
posted by ParisParamus at 5:26 AM on January 3, 2002

Wow, no wonder them marketing vultures keep circling MetaFilter. Yesterday the second site had received 1293 visits. Today it's more than doubled to 2956!
That'll confuse the Frogs!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:07 PM on January 3, 2002