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A Grand
Tradition
In America, the depiction of women in photographs carrying a mild
erotic charge has had a long history. Victorian magazines such as
"Broadway Babies" shocked the public with pictures of young
women, supposedly stage stars, wearing nothing but the voluminous
lingerie of the period.
Hollywood
In
the twenties, magazines began presenting Hollywood stars in glamourous
publicity photos that had no relation to any film, but helped their iconic
satus in the public eye. In the following decade, film moguls would commission
semi-nude
(and sometimes fully nude) pictures, supposedly for distribution
to theater managers, but were just as often for their own collections.
One may find nudes of actresses such as Thelma Todd, Jean Harlow, or Barbara
Stanwyck.
Glamour
Not until the fifties, however, did there emerge modern
"glamour girl" photography. This was a manner of presenting
the female form that, excepting the occasional lack of clothing, was virtually
indistinguishable from the fashion and publicity art of that, and previous
decades, but was created entirely for men. Of this type, "Playboy"
magazine was the best, and is still the only, "adult"
men's magazine to have remained consistently non-pornographic.
Fashion
s
A decade and half on, in the seventies, certain women's
magazines such as "Cosmopolitan" began targeting young women
who were inhabiting their own lives (and workplace) for the first time,
and wished to perceive themselves,and to be perceived, as sexually powerful
in their own right. Articles advocating female sexual freedom were illustrated
with photos of either sex wearing little or no clothing, but with the
women subtly dominant, and the men looking generally confused.
Convergence
In the present, one may find crossovers such as well known models (Elle McPherson, Carrie-Anne Moss) forging successful acting careers, or actresses(Sharon Stone) walking the Paris runway. This is to say nothing of fashion articles and photos in film magazines, "B-list" movie stars (Sherilyn Fenn, Drew Barrymore) and "super"models (Rachel Williams, Naomi Campbell) gracing the pages of men's magazines, or pictorials (Carla Bruni, Helena Christensen) in fashion magazines with more flesh than clothing on display. The more things change, the more they remain (or look) the same. The above fashion and Hollywood photographic examples
have been chosen for their resemblance to pinup art, and not the other
way around, as this site is intended to demonstrate that very point.
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