Pin-up is of course loaded with meanings, some specific, some generic. Start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin-up
Traditional "American pin-up" ended in the 1960's when photography replaced illustration in calendars and magazines like Esquire. Most people equate the term Pin-up with 1940's and 1950's illustration of the type that servicemen pinned-up in lockers. You can't do any better than to get a copy of The Great American Pin-Up, by Martinette/Meisel and published by Taschen. All the best artists are covered, like Gil Elvgren, Alberto Vargas, Art Frahm, Earl Moran, Zoe Mozert. They were active from WWII to 1970. It also covers Art Deco pin-ups (1920-1940) and a large number of more obscure artists, plus some modern artists like Olivia De Berardinis (Playboy). So to be authentic to the pin-up esthetic you want to use wardrobe, props, hair and makeup and poses -- ie the look -- in keeping with the period. For extra points you try to be in keeping with one or more of the common painted themes. Elvgren's look was happy and airy, his girls always smiled or look surprised when their dresses were blown up by the wind revealing garters and stocking tops. But they never looked coy or come-hither or obviously sexy. Art Frahm's girls often suffered wardrobe malfunctions out in the street: their panties would have fallen to their ankles when they had their arms full of groceries. But their modesty was always preserved. Pin-ups were generally not nude, not even bared breasts. There are a lot of swimsuit pin-ups. Pin-up usually lies somewhere in the spectrum from glamour images to very tame erotica. You will encounter a thing known as the pin-up lifestyle. That is made up of people who worship the 1940's and 1950's. They will decorate their homes with real vintage or fifties looking furniture and decorations and wear polka dot dresses (especially full, with crinolines). They they'll go jitterbugging at the hop. http://www.pinuplifestyle.com/ On that thing about the cars. A related interest to pin-up is Rockabilly and this is where you see a lot of 1950's and early 60's hot-rods as props. If you want to see a lot of contemporary takes on pin-up, check out this Tumblr: http://pinuppost.com/ On the high-key issue. Creative pinups are somehow interesting. While there's nothing wrong with a basic pose on a white or plain background, especially if the girl and the outfit is a stunner, it's more interesting if it tells a story, eg there's some background, props, etc. When I did a pin-up shoot, I took my cues from Gil Elvgren. Eg: here's his The Right Touch: http://www.gilelvgren.com/ge/paintingsEnlarge.php?id=35&categoryID=7 And here's mine: http://flic.kr/p/c6B5aE I shot high-key on a white background then composited in new backdrops (with more or less success). Cherry Cheesecake: http://flic.kr/p/bSCWvR Truly authentic pin-up girls would never have tattoos, so I lose some marks there. But just try to find a model without at least one tattoo these days. My interest in pin-ups started with a deck of late 1940's playing cards that my father kept hidden in an upper drawer where his kids couldn't possibly find them. :-) On Sun, Feb 23, 2014 at 5:09 PM, Larry Colen <l...@red4est.com> wrote: > In another forum I made a comment that it might be fun to do a pin-up > style shoot at the Canepa museum. I got some interesting critiques of > the idea from one person in particular. Some quotes: > > ... They have a lot of nice cars, but mostly ex-race cars... Only a couple > hot rods. ... > > To which I replied, showing my own prejudices: > > "We would definitely have to talk to them first. > > As to the cars, race cars are what hot rods pretend to be." > > Her reply was: > If you're going for a traditional pin-up look, you don't want to be standing > next to a 1974 Porsche in a museum. You want to be standing next to a pre-62 > hot rod or kustom. Something that is distinctly American and not pretending > to be anything other than what it is. The hot rod and kustom culture that > originated in post-war California still exists in a vibrant way, and is > accessible to those who want to shoot traditional pin-up photography and not > just photos of girls with cars. > > I said that I didn't particularly care to be authentic, and asked what > I should call it. She said: > > Perhaps you should use the term "girls with cars" rather than pin-up for what > you're doing. The last shoot you did would more closely fall under the genre > of portraiture than pin-up. Using high-key lighting as you did in that shoot > is considered very amateur in the pin-up photographer community. > > So, some questions to those who know more about pin-up photography than I, > which isn't setting the bar very high: > > What is the definition of "pin-up" photography? > > Is high-key lighting really considered amateurish? > > Only pre-1962 American cars? Really? > > > > > -- > Larry Colen l...@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
