Sidonie Adiam Danut
Writer
NUDE Magazine
Somewhere between the realms of nudes, erotic art and portraits lies the slightly controversial and often misinterpreted field of glamour photography. If we look up the term “glamour” inside a dictionary, it will define it as “the quality of fascinating, alluring, or attracting” or synonyms to mean“enchantment, magic,
exciting and often illusory”.
Glam can be traced back to French street vendors, who sold postcards with playful imagery of women. A time when the pin-up culture rose to popularity, as seemingly surprised, sparingly dressed female figures would invite their viewers to play. Or the enchanting imagery of models like Hope Talmons, Heidi Van Horne, Katie Price and Dita Von Teese who redefined the concepts of the Glam genre.
When it comes to photography as an artistic medium, it means capturing and conveying all these qualities through an image; in fact, this kind of picture goes even further and portrays sexuality, style, beauty and confidence as well. All in an unusual or often illusionary way. Perhaps it’s saying that Glam is dedicated to making women look beautiful in a sophisticated way. I would suggest that Glam is much more than sophisticated sexuality or an implied illusion of nudity; rather, each photo strives to capture the beautiful moment the fantasy has created.
The photos in the “Glam” issue of NUDE are timeless and a credit to those wonderful artists who are able to encouraged each woman to reveal their inner selves to their lens. From Yves Kortum’s ability to capture the enticing simplicity of female provocation, to Roberto Roto’s and Robin Burch’s sculpted foreplay of light and shadow to Vassilis Pitoulis’ Hollywood scenes and Marc Boily’s whimsical fantasy—all these pictures have their own defining qualities of illusion.
Glam is really for the woman who is ready to celebrate herself and who she is at this moment in her life. Her own self impression, which these talented photographers use to intensify reality.
And as Voltaire once said “Illusion is the first of all pleasures.”