“Birth and Life” of Glamour Images: Past and Future

As a prominent artistic school, Glamour Photography has been altered dramatically through the past years; knowledge of what happened to it earlier can give us the clue of what awaits glamour images in the future. Like any other genre of photography, it witnessed some dramatic changes, withstood many cultural revolutions to finally emerge in its present state.

I will gladly take you on a short mind trip from the very dawn of Glamour Pictures to their modern state – afterwards we will dabble in foreseeing their probable future.

Adolescence. It is a very controversial issue of where the history of glamour photo really begins. Some seek the roots in Paris of 1930’s, where so-called “french postcards” were sold in abundance – others deem Victorian photography and its gurus to be responsible. There are even people who seek the roots of glamour images in Renaissance and Baroque. Franskly speaking, the birth of glamour photography cannot be discovered with any degree of certainty. What I think is that the most likely period in which beauty photography was born is 1920’s and 1930’s, which were quite a vibrant time in terms of arts and culture. Also, it is from the first half of XX century that the history of classic beauty photography can be traced.

Glorious 50’s and Onwards. After World War II, glamour pictures reached the apex of their glory, closely followed by controversy and outrage. Shining star of Betty Grable was in zenith ever since pre-WWII time; Marilyn Monroe brought even more recognition to beauty photography by her famous appearance on Playboy’s cover in 1953. There were also Pamela Green and others helping to bring this young art to its feet and conquer the world-wide audience.

Dawn of Digital Era. Color wasn’t the only achievement that glamour pictures acquired – they turned into something more creative and provocative. New names started conquering the stage, glamour magazines and beauty photography admirers – those were Dita von Teese, Heidie Van Horne, Lucy Pinder, Bernie Dexter and many others. Additionally, digital format started dominating in photographic arts. Technical progress improved the visual quality of glamour pictures and made the process of shooting dead simple. An amateur in possession of DSLR could potentially become a glamour photographer. Due to rapid development of Internet technologies, a swarm of “people with cameras” emerged, awaiting recognition.

Are you Afraid of 3D? At long last, 3D art hits the stage, offering computer graphics as an arguable alternative to photography. 3D modeling is an art as well, and a complex one, but it seems to be taking over the field of glamour images. I really doubt that 3D-rendered beauty can better the genuinely beautiful model and a talented artist cannot be matched by a PC. In this fight of old and new I remain with the side of inspiration, live relationship and hard studio work.

The future, however, is bright – despite everything, oil, film and digital live on and remain popular. Artistic 3D may join these ranks, and so may whatever comes next. It is not technology that is behind each glamour picture – it’s the soul, the inspiration and the dedication: that of photographer and the model. No real photographer ever forgets this – and I’m sure that neither will you.

For Glamour Photographers