Michael Grecco's gigantic, glossy, full-color photo book is not hot. It's chock-full
of porn performers, from the famous to the never-arrived, and their various tools of the trade, from sex dolls and glass dildos to stripper heels, and it shows acres of flesh. And it's about sex. But arousing, no. It's wholly unerotic. It's also utterly compelling, impossible to stop looking at, and difficult to put down.
It's the bubble within the sex bubble, and Grecco had a backstage pass. "Naked Ambition" captures all the bright pink everything, Lucite heels, trashy stripperwear, het stereotypes and big-boobed blondes that seem fresh from a trip through a 1990s frat-boy time machine. It's DVD culture (far, far from Internet culture) and dated sexuality, preserved like a pornified Twinkie in its format and distribution channels.
- San Francisco Chronicle
When the family drops by this holiday season, get their juices flowing early by leaving Michael Grecco's new photo collection open-faced in front of the TV.
A celeb and advertising photog by day, Grecco favors bold, confrontational images that meet the viewer's gaze with almost uncomfortable directness.
Grecco's up-close and decidedly un-retouched pics reveal every blemish, wrinkle and razor burn. Not that Grecco in any way passes judgment; rather he puts the colorful characters on display.
- Philadelphia City Paper
What happens in Las Vegas rarely stays there. In Naked Ambition, celebrity portrait photographer Michael Grecco presents a genital-warts-and-all pictorial expose of the porn industry’s equivalent of the Oscars. The book examines the inner workings of the annual AVN ceremony while also managing to humanize fantasy icons.
Although the straight porn world takes center stage, Grecco also profiles gay porn stars and offers up museum-quality photos of sex toys. Grecco seems determined to prove pornography can be a valid art form.
- Philadelphia Weekly
Grecco's lens makes Larry Flynt look as dignified as the Lincoln Memorial, while Jenna Jameson channels a satin-wrapped jazz-lounge chanteuse. The accompanying interviews, juxtaposing philosophical insights with suitably trashy industry dish, complete the surprisingly classy package. This might just be your mom's triple-X art book.
- Next Magazine
Some may consider Art Basel to be pornographic in a way…Or not. You see, renowned celeb photographer Michael Grecco is here along with porn stars Jeremy and Sunny Lane, who are featured in his latest book. A great coffee table book for those times when your cocktail party takes a turn towards the Ambien-t--- also features images of Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick and more.
- Miami Herald
Don't judge this book by its cover. For that matter, don't judge it by its title either. Instead, photographer Michael Grecco would rather have you reserve any judgments you may have until you've taken the time to not only look at but read his new book, Naked Ambition: An R-Rated Look at an X-Rated Industry.
"We gave it a catchy subtitle of An R-Rated Look at an X-Rated Industry because that gives people permission to buy the book," Grecco said. "Well, it's not about porn. It's about art."
- Boston Now
Needless to say, Grecco’s latest outing is a far cry from his highly-acclaimed work in magazines like Wired, Time, and Entertainment Weekly. Naked Ambition shies away from exploitation by virtue of Grecco’s revealing photos, which are hybrids of similar works by Diane Arbus and Dave LaChapelle. His is an intimate—short of pornographic—look at the flawed figures who keep the world’s most artificial industry afloat. The book is neither sex nor sexy, but honest in its examination of Debbies who do Dallas.
- Blackbook Magazine
Get an R-rated look at an X-rated world! Renowned celebrity photographer and author Michael Grecco hits Rizzoli Book Store for a lecture and book signing for his new book, "Naked Ambition," a look at the multi-million dollar pornography industry. Special guests include Ron Jeremy, Luc Wylder, Alexandra Silk and others.
- NY Daily News
"Like everything else in this business, this is chaos." This is what Lonn Friend, Naked Ambition writer, told me when I showed up at the Naked Ambition signing at Book Soup in reference to the way the event was going. For an event full of porn stars, it was actually quite tame, and not so much chaotic as lackadaisical.
Dave Navarro and Naked Ambition writer Lonn Friend. Navarro wrote the forward to the book, which reminds readers that "Rock stars and porn stars spend their lives on stage or screen acting out their innermost desires." And, I'd add to that, the innermost desires of a lot of other people.
- LAist
Grecco said he found that delving deep into the world of adult entertainment was a refreshing experience. “The mainstream celebrity world is such a corporate machine,” Grecco said. “There are so many people involved in a celebrity photo shoot — publicists, studio reps, personal assistants, image consultants, entourages — [the porn world] was a very unguarded world, which I loved."
- Xbiz
America Book Tour: 10/22/07 - 12/15/07
Michael Grecco introduces his new book Naked Ambition: An R rated look at an X rated industry in the following cities: Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Pasadena, Austin, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami, New York, and Denver.
09/18/07
Take a sneak peek at The Making of Naked Ambition... Check my Video Blog now!
09/19/07
Michael announces book-signing/presentation tour... see blog
08/17/07
Reserve your copy of Naked Ambition: an R rated look at an X rated industry today! Pre-Orders available now on Amazon.com
08/28/07
Get the Collector's Edition Here!!
This beautifully printed hard cover book is cradled within a sturdy handmade clamshell box and playfully designed with a leather corset enclosure. Comes with a fine art print signed by celebrity photographer Michael Grecco. Only 1500 available! Order now.
