THE PIN-UP PHOTO - AN OVERVIEW

THE PIN-UP PHOTO - AN OVERVIEW - The precursor of the pin-up can be traced back to Ancient time. From the Venus de Milo to the erotic graffiti adorning the walls of Rome and Pompeii, 'girlie pictures' were a staple of early civilizations. The most direct precursor to the modern (20th Century) pin-up was the French postcard, These risque postcards featured photographic depictions of unclad or scantily clad female models. The term pin-up to denote a mass produced image of a sexy (usually scantily clad) girl dates to the World War II era. Perhaps the iconic pin-up of all time was the photographic poster of swimsuit clad Bettie Grable that was taped to the locker of every American G.I. worth his salt. During the 1950's, Playboy Magazine was the pin-up king. The queen of the pin-ups though was a young brunette model with bangs and considerable bang who went by the name Bettie Page. Bettie did all the normal risque nude and semi-nude magazine layouts. However, Bettie also had a naughtier side. She was no stranger to whips, handcuffs and spankings. This raven haired pin-up queen doubled as the dark queen of fetish. In the 1960's, Penthouse Magazine upped the ante and moved to compete with Playboy by moving away from the more traditional pin-up tease into the world of pornographic imagery. By the 70's, Playboy was featuring more explicit pictorials in an effort to compete with Penthouse. Then Larry Flynt's Hustler Magazine entered the market, featuring hard core pornography, and thus seemingly driving the final nails in the coffin of the traditional pin-up. However, like the unsinkable Mollie Brown, the traditional pin-up proved difficult to keep down. In a world flooded with explicit sexual imagery, the pin-up is enjoying a new lease on life. Magazines like Maxim and S. I. Swimsuit edition are proving that more traditional pin-up style imagery can attract a huge readership. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY