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Glamour photography

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.

However, the term is also now used as a euphemism by the pornography industry.

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.

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 wearing lingerie or a swimsuit)
  • topless (exposing the breasts)
  • artistic nude (exposing the whole body apart from the genitalia)
  • magazine nude (exposing the genitalia)
  • "american" / "continental"

Some well-known glamour photographers:

Some well-known glamour models:

Some soft-core, or former soft-core, adult magazines:



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