Sports Illustrated: Knockouts, Five Decades of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Photography

This is a beautiful book on all levels. It is well made with what appears good binding (on my copy at least). They did not skimp on the quality of the page paper, the colors pop. There is some, but not much text, just lots of stunning, oversized images, which is what we want! I really like the "square" format, adds something to the book as most other books are rectangular, so I think it improves the overall unique "impact" of the book. I am a long time serious amateur photographer and SI Swimsuits in the 80's and 90's helped define my ideas of women and photography and contributed to embracing that hobby. So a look back at a book with a large number of the women I remember fondly from that time doesn't hurt either. I really think women of that time had something special (every generation feels that way about "their" generation I am sure), but Elle, Cindy, Christie, Paulina, Stephanie, Kathy are the women that almost created the idea of a swimsuit "Supermodel" and this was the "golden" years of the SI Swimsuit issues, unsurpassed even to this day. The ladies hung around for years with SI, almost becoming your "friends" as you anxiously awaited every year to see them again (long before the internet where anyone is viewable within seconds at any time) and teasing was more the rage than overt sexuality/nudity. A time when millions of teen males repeatedly asked that most important of question every February from that innocent time past "is that really a nipple showing or just the lighting?" Fear not, all the newer models from the late 90's and early 2000's are there as well as a few from the 60's and 70's. The photos are mostly film (slides probably), so there is some validity to some complaints that some images are grainy, but as a photographer from that time, the graininess in most instances appeals to me as it reminds me where we have come from in terms of taking photos over the past several decades (remember, these images were never meant to be blown up larger than a portion of a magazine page and these are all cropped to some extent to make them square, using slide formulas decades old). That said, there are a few images that you do wonder if that was the best the digital scanning/photoshop guys really could have done with the slide. I assume the answer is "yes" as they have expertise and equipment that far surpasses mine, but I do understand what some people are saying about some (maybe 5%) of the shots. So if you are middle aged wishing you had never thrown all those issues away decades ago, take the nostalgic tour from the past with some old friends. If you like this style photography, lots to learn from and see how styles (fashion, photographic AND the actual models) have changed over decades. SI really had some of the best photographers in the business and its a joy to learn from them.

I hated losing my first copy so I bought this one. I added them to my collection, most of these photos were perfect.

A real steal. For those interested in not only the best photos of the past thirty years but also explanations of how the swimsuit issue came into fruition, this book is quite informative and satisfactory.Really fun to flip between decades and locations

An excellent collection...a sort of "best of" from the history of the swimsuit issue. Was nice to see some of the older pics!

The book cover is teared.What a disappointment!

Love this, stunning photography!! Makes me wish I was back in that time

They should make more coffee table books like this that focus on the vintage Sports Illustrated models when Julie Campbell ruled. The main glory days of Sports Illustrated swimsuit editions was due to this wonderful woman who working in conjunction with photographers and models had the "visionary" ability to make every image count. Her sense of planning style combined with picking out not only the right swimsuit but the right model to wear it, alas, is no longer evident at SI today. No photo shop images here.

I've been collecting SI swimsuit editions for a while now, both magazine and special editions. This was a perfect addition for my collection.

健康的で美しい。全然いやらしくないのにセクシー、この中の女性みんなが女性であることに自信を持ち、楽しんでいるような…そんなコンセプトなのかな…日本のグラビアで男性向けに作られた表情を見るとチッとなりますが（笑）こちらはイキイキして躍動感があります。女を忘れそうになった時は引っ張りだして読み返してます。

とてもいい状態で、届きました。丁寧で親切なが配送手続き、どうもありがとうございます。

ポスト投函のつもりだったが、ダンボール箱に入って届いた。デカさと重さにノックアウト。まぁ概ね満足だけど本がデカい分、解像度の低さが目立っちゃうなぁ。

not good quality photos.