RICAS Y FAMOSAS by Daniela Rossell

Turner, 2002, First edition, 176 pp., 12" X 9" (approx.)

Very Good

"The following images depict actual settings." This sentence introduces a disturbing book of photographs about Mexico's super- rich in their huge, frequently enormously tacky mansions and luxury apartments. The women, and also occasionally the men, pose in front of endless pools in the sun, model their newest designer clothes and show off their lifestyles far away from all profane everyday business; at the same time, they present their art collections and pet their - mostly stuffed - animals. For seven years, Daniela Rossell did not visit the poor in suburban slums but this minuscule minority, Mexico´s millionaires, merging modern contemporary and classical Mexican documentary photography. Despite their shrill, gaudy content, the photographs exude a calmness and precision which endow the viewer with the necessary distance. The photographs cater to the most different human instincts, from voyeuristic curiosity to disgust to naive awe about the diversity of human lifestyles in the 21st century.
A few taps to bottom boards and corners and light general handling, otherwise clean and crisp.