With a desire to expand the depth of my education and skill as a woman's photographer, I am venturing into the study of the pin-up, and have started exploring the genre. My first steps into this art form have been into the iconic World War II era. Although not the true beginning of the genre, it was an influential period with a large market interest for the all American sweetheart used to "help with the war effort".
Recently I packed up my gear and traveled to Mobile Bay, home to the World War II battleship USS Alabama. We planned a retro-inspired shoot aimed at capturing the feel of a WWII pinup.
Throughout the war, sexy and evocative works of pin-up art were painted on the nose of combat aircraft, as well as carried and posted by service members around the world. They included women who were fully clothed showing some stocking top and garter or in shorts with a cropped top, to women in bathing suits, lingerie, and occasionally nude or implied nude. These images became iconic of an era, however, the pin-up dates back to the 1800s in one form or another.
Quoting from a article in the Huffington Post Art & Culture by Priscilla Frank, "She's risqué but never explicit. She's flirtatious but fiercely independent. She's erotic but always safe for work...".
My images from the Alabama shoot do not faithfully represent the war years, the wardrobe is more correct for the early/mid 1950's. However, I feel the retro-inspired look of these shots do indeed honor the countless images that went to war.
Watch this U.S. Navy training video about the firing of the 16 inch gun.
It is said that the three most popular pin-up images of WWII are of Betty Grable in her one-piece bathing suit, Rita Hayworth wearing a form-fitting négligée and Jane Russell leaning against a haystack, her bodice at the breaking point. Although these images were originally photographs that were made into posters and often reproduced as drawings and paintings, most pin-up art was some form of drawing or painting.
There were other photographs of lovely women that were available to service members as pin-ups. Among them were images published in the weekly Yank Magazine.
For more info about the evolution of the pin-up visit the sites below, and for your own chance to become a modern pin-up contact us at Von Trapp Photography. Connecting you to your glamour.
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/style/473044/Pin-up-queens-The-real-women-behind-Gil-Elvgren-cheesecake-paintings
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/06/the-art-of-pin-up_n_5924236.html
http://www.thepinupfiles.com/mozert.html http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/pinupart/
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/pinupart/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Petty http://petty.momentscapture.com/georgepetty.php