While a lot of people may be getting tired of Lady Gaga's zany outfits and long music videos, I'm glad to see her still going. What I thought for sure was going to be a one or two hit wonder turned out to be a pop culture phenomenon. I'm not trying to jump the gun here, but it really does seem like it's Madonna all over again. I would've gladly accepted a photo book showing off Gaga's hundreds of outfits, but this is something truly special. It might not be one of the best photo books to come out this year, but when Lady Gaga is the subject matter, and she's all for not looking perfect in every shot, that makes for a very diverse book.
Lady Gaga is all over the place in the photos here. Glammed, bloodied, painted, you name it. The sneak peek she shared on her Facebook page really was just the tip of the iceberg. There were a few shots that even had me open my eyes a little wider because they looked so good. Richardson did a phenomenal job capturing Gaga's style. I'm sorry that the video portion of my review isn't as good as it could've been- the lighting was poor and I was worried about the binding since all the copies I found seemed to be a bit weak, so I didn't open the pages as far as I'd have liked. Any big fan of Lady Gaga should get this book though. Over 300 pages of gorgeous photos for this price? That's a great deal. The only things keeping it from getting a full 5 stars are the binding issue and that I would've liked more close-ups of her face. I think Lady Gaga has one of the most real looking faces today, reminding me of Amy Winehouse (she's even said she dies her hair blonde so no one confused the two at first).
As far as photo books go, Lady Gaga x Terry Richardson is very good, and I'm glad it didn't try to be something it wasn't. I appreciate that there were no essays going on about the work that goes into the shots or wardrobe. This is nearly all photographs with little text. I highly recommend picking this up in the chance that it goes out of print like so many others have lately.