Figure #1: Greenwich Village Nudes, 1951

Celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of a very beautiful and rarely seen publication devoted to the female nude, Figure #1. Published in New York City, 1951 by (the) Photography Workshop located at 286 Bleecker Street (the heart of the West Village). Filled cover to cover with exceptional photographs, many "experimental" and surreal, impeccably printed in fine gravure. The photographers include Peter Basch, Fernand Fonssagrives, Philippe Halsman, Lou Jacobs, Jr., Earl Leaf, Fred Lyon, Ingeborg de Beausacq, Peter Martin, Fred Swartz, Jerry Yulsman and Alfred Gescheidt.

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Keyhole Beauties: Busty Babes 1950s ~ 1960s

One of the most popular, and unfortunately overexposed, collectibles in the girlie, pin-up, glamour photo genre are black & white, glossy 4" x 5" photographs from the 1950s and '60s. Sold via ads in the backs of magazines, under-the-counter in candy stores and in many cases, available for a quick peek in our father's "sock" drawers, these images were part of the smut hidden away by the average guy, rarely seeing the light of day.

In the 1970s, when I became interested in these wonderful photographs, it was via local flea markets in lower Manhattan and at regional paper shows. Although I did have my "sock drawer" experience as a boy, I remained unaware of the amazing scope and abundance of this photo genre. Years of discovery and purchasing, eventually lead to my own drawer filled with hundreds of photographs, discretely hiding a few pairs of socks. Everything had come full circle and turned upside down!

On the right: Delores DeVaughan

Now, many years later and after eBay buyers pushed the prices of this material higher and higher, the collector's market for glossy 4" x 5" has all but collapsed. The economy and the efforts of unscrupulous dealers, selling fakes in the place of the "vintage" photographs they promised, has evaporated most buyer's interest. It has been a road well traveled: from magazine ads, to adult bookshops, to the sock drawer, to the flea markets and to the world wide web. And no matter how the value or interest is gauged a small fraction of these images still work their bit of magic today.

Todays' post flashes forward through my ten year accumulation of these digital images, making a selection of some my favorite photos and models. A random selection follows; model's are identified when known. 

This is the second post of 4" x 5" pix and a third will follow soon. Prior post, American Cheesecake, is here.

Busty cowgirl Virginia Bell

Jackie Miller in corset

Three babes posed at the legendary Spider Pool overlooking Los Angeles 

from the Hollywood Hills.

Sherri Lynn

"Cupcake" Cassidy

On the left: Donna "Busty" Brown

The remaining photos are from France and the U.K. circa early 1960

Marie Deveraux

On the right: Ann Austin

On the right: Lorraine Burnett

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American girls circa early 1960s: See, Speak, Hear No Evil!

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French Girlie Magazines: Petit Format 1950's Part Two

AUDACES, CHUT, EVOCATIONS, SENSATIONS, PARIS~ZAZOU, VOLUPTE, SHOCKING, REGAL, GIRLS DE PARIS, MIRAGE DE PARIS, NATURAMA, PARIS BEAUTES, COULISSES, PARIS TABOU: all titles of 1950's French, digest sized girlie magazines jumping out at me from dealer's stands at the Old Paper Show in Paris, circa late 1980s. I'm at a loss. I don't know what's between the striking cover designs. Ultimately these publications did not disappoint. 

This is the second part devoted to these magazines; part one can be found here.

After years of buying these magazines it became clear: what seemed like an endless fountain of different titles and publishers, boiled down to a few who actually survived for more than a handful of issues. Many were "one-shots", never to be seen again after the premiere issue. Nonetheless, these small format, digest size (approx. 5" x 8") magazines touched a seductive and sometimes sensual spot that American magazines of the period were years away from reaching.

It's a cliche (and one of the few about the French [read: Parisians] that is actually true) that there is a certain "something" about the French, that "je ne sais quoi", that comes through even from the pages of their girlie magazines. The models seem more engaged, yet cool and a bit detached. The photographers seem to be on a mission to get closer to their objective - a gorgeous French model - why not! Is it because they are French? A cliched answer would be yes, but it's much more than a cultural phenomena. It's seductive models with a theatrical flair, at work with very talented photographers and publishers, willing to push the edge and in some instances, create a high quality magazine.

Click her for French digest size girlies in my eBay store.

NB: I've taken this previously very long part two and added part three, here.

It's this process of creating the photographs that diverges from what we see in the United States at the same time. There is an emphasis on serial photography in some magazines  that I refer to as the "strip-series": start dressed, finish undressed, but not too undressed. Getting from here to there, like the road traveled, is part of the fun. It also appears that legs, stockings, garter belts and high heels were very important (thank goodness), an interest that can be called "fetishism" that appeared very early in Paris in the 1920s (see the Jambes post) and has never diminished. In today's high fashion world, think John Galiano and Jean-Paul Gautier and a continued obsession with hair, hats, legs and footwear.

After years of buying these magazines it became clear that what seemed like an endless fountain of different titles and publishers, boiled down to just a few that actually survived for more a handful of issues. Many were "one-shots", never to be seen again after the premiere issue. Nonetheless, these small format, digest size (approx. 5" x 8") magazines touched a seductive and sometimes sensual spot that American magazines of the period were years away from reaching.

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