Glamour photography is the photographing of a model (usually female) nude or semi-nude, in a way that is intended to be erotic. It is often claimed by its practitioners and admirers to be non-pornographic, since it does not involve the depiction of sex acts and did not generally depict genitalia. However, people who disapprove of this type of nude or semi-nude photography typically label it pornography.
What is considered "glamour" has changed with the times. In the 1940s, clothed "pin-up" pictures were "glamour." Many movie stars were featured in pin-up poses showing them in swimsuits. In the 1950s and early 1960s, photographers such as Peter Gowland produced glamour images with partial nudity. Only in the early 1970s did some leading men's magazines begin to show pubic hair and, later, genitalia.
These type of pictures of glamour models typically appear in "soft-core" adult magazines (so-called "girlie magazines") such as Penthouse and Playboy, or in the pages of European tabloid newspapers: for example, the topless 'Page 3 girls' of the British tabloid The Sun.
The term "glamour photography" is also sometimes used as a euphemism for the business of producing hardcore pornography, but glamour photography as discussed above generally stops short of showing penetration.
There is a system of terms developed in the British glamour photography business to describe the graded levels of explicitness involved:
- glamour (that is to say, typically a skimpy swimsuit, lingerie in the case of women, or briefs in the case of men)
- topless (exposing the breasts)
- artistic nude (exposing the whole body apart from the genitalia)
- magazine nude (exposing the genitalia)
- "American" / "continental" (showing penetration)
Some well-known glamour photographers
- Akira Gomi
- Austin Legrew
- Beverley Goodway , Page 3's photographer for 33 years
- Harrison Marks
- Herb Ritts
- J. R. Duran , responsible for most of the pictorials with A-list actresses in the Brazilian edition of Playboy
- Suze Randall
Some well-known glamour models
Some soft-core, or former soft-core, adult magazines
See also
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