PIN UP
noun
1.
a.A picture, especially of a sexually attractive person
that is displayed on a wall.
b.A person considered a suitable model for such a picture. This isn't an exhaustive history of Pin Up Photography but a brief intro and its influence on glamour, portrait, fetish and pin up photography today.
Pin Up photography has been around for a very long time it has been said that the first "Pin Up" style photographs were about in the 1890's and attributed to the "French Postcards" sold on the streets of France
In the early 1900's Pin Up became very popular with images of scantily dressed women playfully posed and often seeming startled or suprised and also with a look of delight.
Its alleged that the term Pin Up wasnt actually used for this type of photography and artwork until 1941. Many of the popular Pin Ups were photographs of celebreties and film stars of the day.
Famous Pin Ups in the 20's,30's and 40,s include Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Mae West, Jean Harlow, Ava Gardner, Jane Russel and Betty Grable.
Betty Grable is considered by some to be the most famous Pin Up of all time. Her bathing suit clad image was very popular with US soldiers during WWII and adorned planes and vehicles.
In the 50's it was Marilyn Monroe and the "Queen of Pin Ups" Bettie Paige who became Pin Up stars. Both are now iconic figures. Bettie Paige is still extremely influential on photographers and models alike in glamour, fetish and pin up styles today.
The influence from those early Pin Up stars on todays Pin ups like Bernie Dexter and Dita Von Teese is evident. There are different influences now with the popularity of the likes of fetish fashion, burlesque, body art and piercings and that has influenced the styles of "pin up" photography we see today.
There are photographers and models today who strive to capture the original classic pin up "cheesecake" style and its still extremely popular.
Here on deviantART the Pin Up category in People and Portraits is a very popular one with many postings a day. Many of the posts maybe considered by some to be not "Pin Up" in the classic sense and theres also a blurring of lines when it comes to fetish, fashion, glamour, artistic nude and classic portraits. It can be diffcult to categorise some images in just one category.
Look into those categories and you'll see Pin Up styles in all of them. In many of these images there is more than a passing nod to those early pin up stars.
Below is a small collection of "Pin Up" style images that where posted in the last month alone from various categories of photography.
Heres to the Pin Up
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