Sylvain's Tahiti

After Sylvain's death, his widow Jeanine-Tehani had a dream that a European embarked upon her island country and that she gave to this person all of her husband's photos to be made into a book. In a storybook twist of fate, it just so happened that Tehani's dream became a reality when photographer Gian Paolo Barbieri- born on the same day and hour as Sylvain- stopped off for a visit a few years later. He was mesmerized by Sylvain's photographs and eagerly gathered together his work to take back to Europe. Thus was born Tahiti, woven together by the strands of destiny and the vision of an impassioned photographer.

Tahiti begins with a preface by Barbieri and an introduction by biographer, journalist, and longtime friend of Sylvain, Jean Lacouture, followed by Sylvain's best works, including landscapes, portraits, and images of celebrities visiting the island (such as Brigitte Bardot, Marlon Brando, and Charles de Gaulle). With these luscious, sensual images as evidence, it's not hard to see why Sylvain was enraptured by Tahiti's exotic, ethereal atmosphere, nor why he felt the need to photograph it. Sylvain's work has not met the success it deserves until now, as fate finally brings his photographs to the world with this retrospective tribute.

Content Caution: Before proceeding further, please realize (as the cover image indicates) that this book is filled with photographs of topless and nude female models, usually the photographer's wife. These images would earn this book's material an R rating if it were a motion picture.

Review: M. Sylvain's photography makes unusually good use of black-and-white contrasts for capturing lush tropical landscapes, lagoons and beaches, nudes, and everyday scenes in Tahiti. His work benefits from the frequent use of his wife, Tehani, as a model. She is remarkably relaxed and happy in these images, and helps to set a mood of natural enjoyment of nature that will have the viewer yearning for Tahiti. Lest you think these scenes are very overposed, I saw scenes very much like these during a vacation in Tahiti in the mid-1980s.

Some of the images are ragged around the edges, which reflects the terrible loss of much of M. Sylvain's work during a fire in his studio. Some of these images were rescued from the debris that remained. As a result, these images almost all date from 1946-1957.

Ms. Sylvain will remind you of a sea otter in some of the images, as she glides effortlessly through the crystal lagoon water. Her connection with nature is direct and joyous. Her apparent pleasure in what she is doing is infectious.

The images themselves are well composed, technically very fine, and the reproduction quality is excellent.

Towards the end of the book, you will also see some photographs of famous visitors to the island like Brigitte Bardot and Charles de Gaulle.

My original interest in visiting Tahiti was tied to having watched a television series, called Adventures in Paradise. The stories related to a schooner captin operating out of Papeete. When I read the book, I was interested to see that M. Sylvain had been an adviser to that series as well as other major filming in Tahiti over the years.

Many people also know Paul Gauguin's paintings of Tahiti, which have also helped form expectations about the islands and their people. In particular, James Michener with his Tales of the South Pacific helped created an image of beautiful, winning Polynesian maidens that is echoed here. Ms. Sylvain observes that her husband played a key role in creating the myth of the vahini, as a result.

After you look at these dreamscapes of Tahiti, you should sit back and think about what your ideal image of life is. What would you be doing? Where would you be? Who would be with you? What does that picture tell you about yourself?

Dream boldly . . . and recognize the opportunity to life your dreams as Adolphe Sylvain did!