Site review: Petites Parisiennes

I think I discovered Jam Abelanet while looking through the site of Fine Art Photo magazine - a bit of a pretentious name (who are we kidding here?) and  features too many of the kind of arty nude beauty-of-the-female-form shots which  I find terribly dull. In some of their pages, though, certain shots leap out, and one from Jam's Fantasies Souterraines book was one - which actually resulted in my buying his other book, Les Petites Parisiennes.

I was sufficiently captivated by the lovely models in it, and the more-than-a-hint of complicit voyeurism in his pictures capturing a day in the life of the girls. From the charm of stolen glimpses of her waking up, to the surprisingly erotic images of getting dressed - the latter involving a wonderful array of sophisticated lingerie, the kind that (I like to think, at least) women would buy themselves, as opposed the gaudy stuff that we see so often in glamour photography. Not to mention the thrill of some rather naughty pictures in public places!

It wasn't long, then, before I succumbed to the lure of the accompanying site, Petites Parisiennes - and was glad to find more of the same - although no less inventive - type of pictures. Actually, a whole lot more - there are a stunning collection of models there, some well-known, and some only featured here - all of varying shapes, looks and ages, and all pretty in different ways - more glam than girls-next-door, but in no way carbon-copy glamour gals. It follows a similar theme - a number of photo sets of each model, following their day - some are intimate pictures in their own apartments; some more glamorous studio shoots and again, some pretty racy outdoor and indoor locations.

Somehow, Jam - who is very responsive and affable on the forum - manages get something new on there every day - either a photo shoot, or a video; which range from the voyeurism of watching the model get dressed, via some cute interviews, to the occasionally racier ones where they find a little more - ahem - satisfaction.

For me, what qualifies this as erotic photography as opposed to art-nudes or porn (neither of which I have anything against) is the context that Mr Abelanet brings to the pictures. Borne out, I think very tellingly, by the fact that I found pictures I liked there for each and every one of the fifty-odd models. (Either that or I'm just unfussy.) I'm being fairly restrained with my thumbnails here, but here are a few racier samples, by way of: my weakness for nylons, the obligatory shower scene, and - excuse my kinkiness - actually getting dressed (well, up to a point). Oh, and seeing as this is a review of sorts... 9/10!