their men, whose interest in the catalogs cannot
escape notice. The purveyors of intimate and sexy
apparel try to legitimize and validate what is essen-
tially pinup photography by associating it with con-
sumer products. Despite the ingenuity and variety
that bothSports Illustratedand lingerie catalogs
introduce in pose and setting (Sports Illustrated
famously launches a global search for exotic settings
for its celebrity models), the rules of these ventures
are formulaic: nipples and genitalia can never be
exposed, although their erotic but hidden presence
is exploited. The old striptease rule that anticipation
is more erotic than total nudity is invoked. Models
are frequently topless, yet nipples remain strategi-
cally covered. In such modern manifestations the
enduring pinup style remains a potent and lively
form of photography, adroitly linking two types of
desire: sexuality and consumerism.
The more sexually explicit pictures of women
seen in men’s magazines, fromPlayboytoHustler,
from the 1970s to the end of the century, might be
included in the pinup category. Such pictures tend
to fit the accepted definition of soft-core pornogra-
phy when they include prominently exposed vulvas,
apparent masturbation, and breast and nipple play.
They do not represent the ‘‘classic’’ type of mild,
comparatively ‘‘innocent’’ pinup, but since there is
ample historic precedent for such mild pornogra-
phy in the pinup genre, in calendars, ‘‘naughty’’
postcards, and other forms, it would seem arbitrary
to exclude them. But they may not be ‘‘your grand-
father’s pinup.’’ Hard-core pornography involving
graphic sexual activity between two (or more) per-
sons is beyond the scope of pinup photography,
demonstrably different in spirit.
Well-known photographers who supplied the
men’s market with pinups during the 1940s–1960s
included Peter Gowland, Andre de Diennes, Howell
Conant, Bunny Yeager (who famously photograph-
ed herself), and a host of others. They were cele-
brated in the pages of popular photographic
magazines such asU.S. Camera,Modern Photogra-
phy,Popular Photography,andtheirannuals.Wri-
ter-photographers like Glen Fishback Jr. wrote
about pinup and glamour photography in such
photographic hobby magazines, dispensing practical
advice about posing, lighting, and even locating and
persuading potential models. As a photographer
who used cheesecake to illustrate photographic pro-
duct advertising, Fishback epitomized the combina-
tion of girls and gadgetry that the photographic
magazines of the time promoted in order to reach a
wide male audience. The era was clearly marked by a
more ‘‘innocent’’ or ‘‘wholesome’’ style, which cele-
brated beautiful bodies, the pert and perky gaze of
the models toward the viewer, and a ‘‘tasteful,’’
mostly inoffensive approach to sexuality.
DavidHaberstich
Seealso: Erotic Photography; Fashion Photogra-
phy; Modern Photography; Nude Photography; Pop-
ular PhotographyFurther Reading
Chellas, Allen, ed.Cheesecake: An American Phenomenon.
New Jersey: Hillman, 1953.
Ewing, William A.The Body: Photographs of the Human
Form. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1994.
Gabor, Mark.The Pin-Up: A Modest History. New York:
Universe Books, 1972.
Ko ̈hler, Michael, ed.The Body Exposed/Views of the Body/
150 Years of the Nude in Photography. Zurich: Editions
Stemmle AG, 1986/1987/1995.
Saltpeter, Harry. ‘‘Nice Nellie, the Gibson Girl.’’Esquire
(Feb. 1943): 47ff.
Sternberg, Jacques, and Pierre Chapelot.Un Sie`cle de pin
up. Paris: Plane`te, 1971.
Wortley, Richard.Pin-ups Progress: An Illustrated History
of the Immodest Art. London: Panther, 1971.BERNARD PLOSSU
French
Bernard Plossu is emblematic of a generation of
French—and more generally European—photogra-
phers born in the immediate aftermath of World
War II and for whom both the discovery of the
United States and traveling the world were seminal
factors in the development of a photographic vision.PLOSSU, BERNARD