Anonym Book

This is a fascinating photo-album of historical "pornographic" portraits made between 1850 and 1950 all taken from the collect on of French author, essayist, and critic Serge Bramly. Far from the smutty snaps we tend to associate with pornography today, these are carefully composed shots that betray the obsessional perfectionism of the professional photographer as much as the voyeur. Expertly lit, theatrically posed (often with elaborate props), and meticulously printed, they have the boldness and formality that signal true works of art.