Richard Kern - then, now(ish) and somewhere in between

I'm quite a fan of photographer (and sometime underground filmmaker) Richard Kern - he seems to have a sense of humour, and I like his almost documentary-style of shooting, sometimes capturing his models in the oddest of poses. His Taschen book is a favourite, and needs reviewing here sometime soon; and suspect I will join his New Nude City site sometime too. Meantime, a few clips:

Firstly, this interview from 1986, in which he's a bit laconic, and arguably (sorry Richard, I am a big fan, really) a little pretentious:



In total contrast to this video (click on the image to see it @ Taschen), in which he's far more personable and amusing :)

Finally, I chanced upon this from King Missile; if you have a song called Detachable Penis, who better than Richard Kern to direct the video for you?

Viva Van Story's Everything Mosh

Given my penchant for racy material, be it glamour or erotica, I've found many photographers and models who I've liked; although I appreciate the work of both, I tend to follow photographers more and don't really obsess over models. Obsession aside (although a friend pointed out to me a tumblr blog devoted entirely to her), however, I am hugely fond of Mosh - aside from being stunning, she's hugely inventive, lending herself to pinup, latex fetishism, erotica - and her pictures really give the feeling of being collaborations with the photographer rather than just a model.

Viva's work is equally inventive, and I enjoy everything she does - from the technical excellence of her classic cheesecake to the more contemporary, fetish-y and erotic shots such as as she recently did for Alt Exclusive. The latter, as I mentioned in my review of her book, embodying more the original racy concept of pinup art. Put these two icons of modern pinup together - and fortunately for us, they often are - and the results are a combination of entertaining, exciting, arousing and breathtaking.

So, when I saw industry-leading photographer Viva Van Story had created a commemorative booklet devoted to Mosh, I was (at least I like to think) the first to put my name down for one - and it arrived today! A 16-page booklet showing the lovely Miss Mosh in clad in various states of undress, and in various combinations of retro girdles, latex, nylons and sheer lacy numbers. Some scenes are familiar from Viva's book; and as a volume it is slight; but the print and paper quality - not to mention being signed and numbered by these two wonderful ladies - makes it a collector's item (albeit one to be enjoyed, I'm not precious about such things). I'm even suffering from mailing-label envy, and indecision as to what to do with the Viva's Pinups sticker that was enclosed.

Perhaps my favourite thing about it is the - rather small - 'Volume 1' on the cover, and what that implies. Actually, I think Mosh should have a whole book devoted to her; but meantime, I have a suspicion that we'll be seeing more of her (and Viva) in Goliath's Latex Fashion Photography, and Viva's forthcoming sheer-themed book. The latter being head and shoulders above the top of my must-have list!

Book Review: Roy Stuart V

Roy Stuart is - as best I can describe - an erotic auteur, an American photographer and filmmaker based in Paris - and his work has that familiar, appealing feeling of French eroticism that I like so much. He's also often the subject of tiresome is-it-art-or-is-it-porn discussions - I'll skip that comparison since art is highly subjective, but I'll say his work is definitely erotic and likely pornographic - and very exciting for it. He's been a fixture in Leg Show magazine for some years - which is all the better for it - and this is his fifth book via Taschen, the only one that's readily available to buy (a shame that Taschen seem to let books go out of print relatively quickly).

This is definitely racier than some of my recent glamour-based reviews. The content ranges from simple portraits and undressing, to full nudity and sex - there are individual models, scenes with two girls, couples and threesomes. Which arguably makes it porn - which is fine with me - although rather different from the run-of the mill kind. I can think of two major aspects that set Mr Stuart's work apart; first is the quality of the photography itself - the lighting, focus and bokeh is very evocative, bringing out the subject of each shot - be it a flash of panties; the face of the model seductively looking at the camera; or her hand wrapped around her partner's cock, guiding it into herself.

The other key aspect is narrative; the book is a mixture of different styles, with some documentary and portraiture, but most of it is taken up with short sets depicting a story. These are as diverse as a couple simply having sex (and authentically looking like they are enjoying it); grabbing a chance look up skirts in the park; having panties (rather improbably) stolen; or coming to a more-than-amicable resolution of a minor traffic prang. It's this aspect that, for me, make it very exciting, to imagine either being part of the story or simply a voyeur as being a reader makes me.

Models here (the female ones, that is - there are some men including the photographer) are naturally beautiful women; but it's worth noting one of Mr Stuart's other defining features, is his disapproval of the last-decade-or-so's trend of shaving pubic hair. This is perfectly OK with me, since being waxed bare has never really appealed to me; I prefer my eroticism with models who look natural - and without fail, every model here is unshaved. Another feature is the locations; some Parisian scenes, but many in the classical French interior of the studio, with baroque chairs and the like.

The book itself is of the usual Taschen quality, well printed - 280 pages and slightly oversized (approx 25x31cm). A coffee-table book, but only if you have lovers or particularly open-minded friends round for coffee. It also come with a DVD; about an hour of clips of the photographer's film projects; the subject matter is similar, with some crossover with the scenes in the book - but the very graphic sex and porn aspect is obviously heightened when viewing it as video.

You may think that it sounds a little pretentious; I find more of a hint of that when viewing Mr Stuart's work than with some other photographers. And you might arguably be right - but then what is eroticism and fantasy, but a kind of pretence? Either way, it's all the more thought-provoking - and arousing - for it. Definitely recommended, if you don't mind turning the heat up a bit from typical art-nude books.

Ana Dias & Wolf189, via Photographer & Muse

Working on a couple more reviews, but meantime another quickie... happened upon Photographer & Muse, a great showcase of erotic and/or nude photography; each entry being a short series of images along a particular theme. Was lured there by Between the Sheets, by the very inventive Wolf189; and thereafter discovered another gem by way of Ana Dias' The Girl Next Door - certainly not like any neighbour I've ever had, but I guess that some folk are just luckier when it comes to that sort of thing. Needless to say, that kind underwear and glamour is very appealing, so I shall be looking forward to seeing more from Ms Dias.

More smut racy reviews soon, but meantime there's a very lovely video making-of:

Site Review: Holly Randall & Forever Vamp

Chancing upon Holly Randall's work, I was briefly flung back (an undisclosed number of years) to illicit reading material of my youth, featuring racy photos by her mum, Suze - only to be brought back to the present by Holly's own talents and expertise.

Having recently reviewed Ellen Stagg's Stagg St, Ms Randall's photography could draw comparisons; both contemporary photographers, and featuring many of the same models - from fetish regulars such as Mosh, Darenzia, Angela Ryan, Vanessa Lake & Jade Vixen; to some of the biggest names in more mainstream smut, like Aria Giovanni & Ryan Keely. Ms Randall focuses more on the latter, though, adding considerably to it with many well-known porn actresses, including Alexis Texas and Sunny Leone.

But I'll try to avoid comparing, by way of a disclaimer - Holly's style of photography is a little more centerfold-glamour than the kind of erotica or fetish that I'm normally drawn to - most scenes being very strongly lit, the models quite made-up, the locations exotic more than evocative. But that's purely a matter of taste, and I'll counter that by saying that the standard of her photography is never less than excellent, and that I still found a lot to enjoy there.

My initial lure, her sets and videos of Mosh, Angela Ryan and Jade Vixen, are wonderful, as are those of the other fetish and pinup models, including the stunning Vanessa Lake. But the extra explicitness of the porn models - many sets leaving very little to the imagination with fingers and sex toys - was actually a welcome diversion from the kind of latex and nylon teasing that I like so much. And even though it's not normally my area of interest, I'll confess to enjoying the hardcore extra-racy photos and videos - perhaps it's because they are shot by a female photographer, but I found them more balanced and considered than most porn.

Now, although much of her work is arguably relatively mainstream, there's glamour and there's glamour, which brings me to one of the sister sites, Forever Vamp - subtitled Ultra Glamour Fetish, that's as apt a description as I'd be able to come up with. Here we see the glamour angle ramped up even more, but focusing on latex, alt models and pinups - just my territory, although I'll admit that some of the BDSM shoots out-kinked me! But with a great selection of models and fetishwear, for me this is the perfect direction for Ms Randall's talent and style - and although the site is relatively new, and with not much material yet, I'm looking forward to seeing more there in the future.

A brief note about specs - the sites are easy to browse, search and switch between (with number of additional sites included); recent videos are HD - my main complaint being picture resolution - OK-ish at 1600px, but I'd rather see at least 2000, preferably 3000, especially from such a well-known photographer. But such quibbles aside, the sites are great fun, and definitely worth joining.

Visit Holly Randall or Forever Vamp.

Racy books @ Blurb

After getting some great magazines from MagCloud, have recently discovered the book equivalent, Blurb. It's a print-on-demand service for folk to self-publish books and seems to be one of the most popular ones for photographers.

Which is great news all round - of course, most erotic photographers would like to be picked up by Edition Skylight, Goliath, teNues etc... but that's a) not necessarily easy and b) something of a minefield with publishers increasingly being pushed hard on pricing by Amazon and the like. The downside is that we don't see the bargains that we're used to - but I'm happy for the artists themselves to set the price and know what they will get from it.

Anyway, of far more interest is some of the very interesting stuff I'm seeing there, and the rapidly growing size of my shopping list! Click on the thumbnails to see previews of the books, then hunt around there and let me know if you find anything else!

Site review: Stagg St

Upon discovering Ellen Stagg - which I did only recently, I think via, er, browsing at The Mosh Room - I was immediately very enthusiastic about her work, and I knew I wouldn't be able to wait long before signing up to her site, Stagg St.

An initial first glance, her style may seem mainstream; a look through the list of featured models will reveal many popular glamour and porn icons, such as Aria Giovanni (who is entirely adorable), Jelena Jensen, Justine Joli - and particularly serendipitously, at least for me, Ryan Keely. But between these, she also shoots a similar number of fetish models - eg Darenzia, Mosh, Marlo Marquise, Emily Marilyn, Angela Ryan & Jade Vixen.

And she makes all these lovely models look wonderful, with her considered, respectful-yet-sexy style. On one hand, she focuses more on the fetish aspect than some more typical centrefold photography that you may have seen many of the models in; on the other, the alt and pinup models aren't quite as glammed and dolled up as you'll see them elsewhere. That may sound like it's not one thing or another; whereas actually it's quite unique and charming.

She uses natural light to it's best effect; there are some very atmospheric shots making the very best use of light streaming in through windows, and consequent shadows. And although I'm no expert, when natural light isn't enough, she seems to eschew the full glare of typical glamour studio lighting, in favour of a more documentary-type flash. Similarly, she has a knack for choosing great settings - the many realistic locations lend context, but still with a measure of glamour.

Now, all that might sound a bit analytical; it needs balancing out by simply stating that there are a lot of pictures of very beautiful, very sexy models, in - and most definitely out of - some very lovely lingerie; the whole premise is huge fun and very exciting.

The only downside is that technically, the site is a little sparse - there are no zips of picture sets, and the resolution is fairly low at 1080 pixels - from such a good photographer, I'd rather have seen pics that can at least fill my screen, landscape shots noticeably blurring when they do; and there's also no categorisation other than by model. (I guess I'm a little spoiled by Jam's facilities and huge images at Petites Parisiennes).

Some folk might argue that the small quantity of pictures - approx 15 per set - is a problem too, but I see it as an advantage; I suspect Ms Stagg has ruthlessly edited her shoots and pretty much every picture is spot on, with no fillers.

So overall, despite some limitations of the site itself, Ellen Stagg has quickly become one of my favourite photographers and Stagg St is recommended. I just hope she gets picked up by a publisher to do a book or two - she does have one, but self-published and a little expensive, so something I'll have to save up for! Visit Stagg St.

Ellen Stagg - short interview

I only recently discovered Ellen Stagg - not quite sure how she'd gone under my radar for so long, given that her work is great! She does some centerfold-type work, but with enough pinup/alt-ness to it to keep it (very) interesting - and she's got quite a way with lighting and sets that sets her apart from her contemporaries.

More about her site sometime soon - but in the meantime, Brad, who I know from the forum at Petites Parisiennes, found this clip. She's got a great perspective, which makes the respect for - and obviously huge fun with - the models she works with really stand out in her photos.

Book review: Viva's Pinups

I discovered Viva Van Story a couple of years ago, and my first thought was “Why doesn't she have a book yet?” Fast-forward a bit and that's just what the ridiculously cool UK publisher Korero came out with a while ago - much to my delight.

On a simple level, Ms Van Story does retro-style pinups. Now, I like old-style pinups as much as the next guy (well, actually, probably rather more than the next guy) and I'm genuinely more than happy to look at racy material of years gone by. Having said that, things have moved on a bit in the last half a century, and Viva expertly blends the titillation and sauce of the classic pinup, with the edginess of alt culture and fetishism. And in doing so, I think she very much captures the spirit or the original era, when you had to be a lot less racy to be more racy.

A look at her site - and at Korero's page on the book - will give you an idea of what to expect. Lots of gorgeous girls, including many familiar faces (and figures, of course) including Mosh, Angela Ryan, and Masuimi Max - some inked and pierced, some not - but all looking equally ravishing. And plenty of new (at least to me) models - one standout was Kitty Kosmo, although sadly there was only one shot of her.

And all are wrapped up in a dizzying array of nylons, fishnets, sheer and high-waist panties, corsets, boots... (er, I'll stop now). And with a moderate level of explicitness - plenty of toplessness, not much full-frontal nudity... but who needs it when the girls and the outfits are as good as this?

What won't be obvious until you get the book in your hands is the progression through her changing styles and moods as a photographer. It starts out with some studio cheesecake, then goes through a hotrod/kustom phase (girls with  welding torches, oilstains...) and then finds it's feet in a perfect range of sets - retro interiors, kitchens, boudoirs - where the lace, silk and tassels alternate with latex and PVC.

Towards the end of the book, we see a different, darker angle to Viva's work - some bondage, blindfolds, abandoned buildings and much moodier lighting... which doesn't work quite as well for me but is still exciting stuff and no less interesting for it.

I'll go so far as to say that Ms Van Story is undoubtedly the queen of contemporary pinup photography - the book is a perfect sampler of her work and ranks among my favourites.

Book review: Motel Fetish

The first review here is a bit of an unfair one, since it's a book that by now is pretty hard to come across. (Stop sniggering at the back.) But it's also the book that really got me into the whole pinup/fetish/glamour/erotica genres (and also arguably combines all of them) - I saw it at a bookshop and, not really having ventured into this sort of thing before, couldn't take my eyes off it.

Chas Ray Krider's book, published by Taschen, is a wonder of atmospheric, evocative, noir. Featuring a selection of wonderful models - including a few well-known ones like the lovely Dita Von Teese - in and out of all manner of retro nylons, girdles, bullet bras and sheer panties.

The sets and lighting are perfect - retro motel rooms, harsh shadows from bedside lamps, old TV sets - you can almost hear the clink of ice in the tumblers of whisky that the girls hold. The seeming simplicity of the sets betrays the skill of Mr Krider in capturing the seediness of an illicit encounter at a cheap motel.

If I'm making it sound a bit too arty, it's also extremely arousing. The level of explicitness is spot-on; plenty of toplessness and some full-frontal nudity; but more often than that, are tantalising images of nether regions barely covered by sheer lingerie, or with a hand slipped into the underwear.

There's an accompanying Motel Fetish website, where you can see a few more of the kind of pics you'll find inside it. But if you can, get a copy.

There's no other way to rate this than 10/10 - a masterpiece!