Erotic photography

Erotic photography is a style of art photography of an erotic, sexually suggestive or sexually provocative nature. It is a type of erotic art.

Scope and purpose

In a spectrum, erotic photography is often distinguished from nude photography, which contains nude subjects not necessarily in erotic situations, and pornographic photography, which is of a sexually detailed nature. Pornographic photography generally moves in the direction of the "obscene", and is judged as lacking in artistic or aesthetic value; however, the line between art and pornography has been both socially and legally debated, and many photographers have created work that intentionally ignores these distinctions.

Erotic photographs are normally intended for commercial use, including mass-produced items such as decorative calendars, pinups and for men's magazines, such as Penthouse and Playboy, but many art photographers have also dabbled in detailed or erotic imagery. Additionally, sometimes erotic photographs are intended to be seen only by a subject's partner. Glamour photography is frequently erotic.

Models

The subjects of erotic photographs include professional models, celebrities and amateurs. Well-known entertainers do not generally pose nude for photographs. The first entertainer to pose nude for photographs was the stage actress Adah Isaacs Menken (1835–1868). However, a number of well-known film stars have posed as pin-up models and been promoted in photography and other media as sex symbols. The majority of erotic photographs are of female subjects, but erotic images of men are also published.

There are no formal qualifications to model, but legal ages are required. The themes used in erotic photoshoots can be diverse, and it is up to the model and photographer to determine what the shoot will entail, so the model has to be aware of their limits.