Bel Ami-Paradise Found: Bel Ami Hardcover – August 18, 2011

I have been a Howard Roffman fan for all of the years that he's been doing his craft. I think I have his entire catalog. This book is now number 18. I would compare this with Private Moments (1st edition), except the book is larger in size and allows you to see more of the boys. If you enjoy the Bel Ami twinks, you'll definitely enjoy the variety and poses in the book. It is a very sensual and erotic look at the boys in South Africa.

I think this is #17 in my collection of Howard Roffman photo books, not counting the many calendars of his I have bought over the years, so it's obvious I am a big fan. This latest one featuring the beautiful and carefree boys of Bel Ami is simply stunning. Huge coffee table size book packed with more than 150 full page (some spread over two pages) glorious color photos. Just wonderful shots of the Bel Ami boys enjoying fun and games, being with each other, having romantic moments and even enjoying each others erections, all done with style and taste and a heavy dose of eroticism. A high watermark for both Roffman and publisher Bruno Gmunder.

"While the boys of Bel Ami dedicate themselves to a stunning performance--as can be seen and admired in the label's many movies--Roffman follows them with his camera. He captures their funny and sexy moments; he watches them in their quiet and in their frisky minutes. You can tell that over the years of cooperation between the Bel Ami boys and their photographer a certain kind of intimateness has grown; the pictures are even more spontaneous and outgoing than in the first two books--they are all about enjoying the good life. And though Roffman sticks to his distinctive and moving style his new pictures are more sexually charged than all his work before. PARADISE FOUND contains intimate pictures of adolescent men. A splendid paradise--with no Eve in sight."(Review from Bent magazine)

I actually bought this book for a friend, who wanted to give it to someone else as a present. That being said, I looked at the pictures, and they didn't do that much for me. The guys were to young and didn't arouse me that much. The quality of the photography is, however, outstanding. If you like "twinks," you might enjoy this book.

love the models, prefer them posed alone, each in his own pose

For those who follow the monographs by photographer Howard Roffman, the lead photographer for the popular Bel Ami studio in Eastern Europe, this book will be an anticipated pleasure and reward. Roffman and Bel Ami manage to find the most photogenic young healthy athletic lads and gather them into groups or simply alone, giving them license to be relaxed and to go with the moment. And while these young men are for the most part in the buff this is not an album of explicit images. The viewer turns each page gathering the idea that these lads are exploring themselves, their friends, trying new ideas that could be either part of their youthful wonder or indicators of their preferences.Another way of stating this is this collection of color photographs is about freedom of expression, that phase most young people go through on their way to becoming fully aware of the possibilities of the adult world. There is a sense of play, of 'horsing around' so typical for this age group that far outweighs any pointed references to erotic physical fulfillment. Not that the images are not provocative: both men and women could enjoy the sense of delight in the world that these young men manifest. It is just another exploration of the beauty and the wonder of the human body as well as the possibility of sexual awakening and experimentation as traveled by some spectacular Eastern European lads. And Howard Roffman does it very well. Grady Harp, September 11