History of Erotica
The history of pornography and erotica goes back to pre-modern era. From that point on, there have been many works produced with highly sexual themes. First we have the pornographic images of cave paintings by the ancient humans; the sexual depictions seen in Greek and Roman pottery and sculpture; the writings of well-known authors and poets such as Pietro Aretino (15th century Italian writer), and D.H. Lawrence (British novelist), and famous paintings such as Venus of Urbino by Titian, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Picasso, and many more. The interesting thing about these past works of art is that many scholars regard them as erotica and not pornography. They hold the view that the nature of such works is intellectual in nature and it is the creative process that distinguished them from pornographic material.
The beginning of the 20th century was an era of boom for pornography. Visual and print materials with explicit sexual content were mass produced and an industry was gradually starting to grow. Whereas in the past centuries, sexual works of art and literature were enjoyed by a limited social class, in the modern period of technology, the masses realized that access to such works was not the impossible.
Denmark was the first country in the world to legalize pornography. It occurred in 1969, and the whole world watched this “sexual experiment” with great interest. What would the legalization of pornography mean to society and the sexuality of its citizens?
One of the first people in the world to take advantage of the new sexual freedom was Danish photographer Ole Ege. He directed a number of porno films in the 1970s, including a bestiality film that was chosen as best film at the world’s first porno film trade fair in 1970 in Amsterdam.
Pornography got its big breakthrough in the summer of 1972 with the first porn star in the history of humanity: 23 year old Linda Boreman, who played the lead role in the film “Deep Throat” using her stage name, Linda Lovelace. In the months to follow millions of Americans saw explicit sex on the silver screen for the first time in their lives
In the 1980's, with the availability of the VHS video there was even more access to pornography; people could now view it within the privacy of their own home. Since the 1990's,the boundaries have been pushed by introducing new concepts and features into pornographic works.
Then there came the Internet, an effectively uncensored mass distribution media. The expansion of Internet use from 1995 onward created a true revolution for pornography because the Internet offered anonymity and immediate access to millions of pornographic images. Pornography generated profits in the billions and became the first paying business on the Internet.
Photographers, Artists and Writers
Some of the more famous personalities involved in the creation of erotica.
Elmer Batters (1919-1997) was a pioneer fetish photographer who specialized in capturing artful images of women with an emphasis on stockings, legs, and feet. He was ahead of his time in popularising foot-fetish imagery as erotic entertainment.
Bob Carlos Clarke (1950-2006) was an Irish photographer, known for his highly stylised erotic imagery. He specialised in erotic images of women; his models - who ranged from Jerry Hall and Rachel Weisz to teenage girls plucked off the street - were often clad in skin-tight latex, posing provocatively, even pornographically, and his images attracted both controversy and critical acclaim.
John Alexander Scott Coutts (1902-1962), better known as John Willie, was a pioneering fetish photographer and bondage artist. As an artist, he is best known for his character Sweet Gwendoline, which he drew in a clear, anatomically correct style. Other characters include U69 as the raven-haired dominatrix who ties up Gwendoline and Sir Dystic d'Arcy, the only prominent male character and probably a parody of Willie himself.
Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter (1920-2004) was a German-Australian fashion photographer noted for his nude studies of women. He established a particular style marked by erotic, stylised scenes, often with sado-masochistic and fetishistic subtexts.
Horace Roye (1906 - 2002) was a flamboyant photographer famous for his nudes and pictures of starlets - and for waterskiing into old age Horace Roye was one of the 20th century's great pioneering photographers, whose familiarity with cinema and stage stars during the war years led to international fame and some notoriety. As a noted photographer of nudes, he successfully contested the prudish obscenity laws of his day, paving the way for others to publish work that Roye himself considered to be pornographic.
The Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) was a French aristocrat and writer of philosophy-laden and often violent pornography. He was a philosopher of extreme freedom (or at least licentiousness), unrestrained by morality, religion or law, with the pursuit of personal pleasure being the highest principle.
A Brief Account of the Life of the Marquis de Sade, by Anthony Walker
Bunny Yeager, an American model and photographer. Played a role in making Betty Page famous.
