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Nude Polaroids: The Coffee Table Book
In fact, Bonanos also found that the first-generation of these erotic Polaroids are a testament to part of the medium’s success, with “camera club” sessions even emerging as a popular fad. “Afternoons with a hired nude model, allowing amateur shutterbugs a few hours to indulge their artsy-prurient sides,” as he described it. The quintessential 1950s pinup girl at these meetings, with pornography historian Joseph Slade mentioning that frontal nudity was included in her racy Polaroids. Even the Kinsey Institute, whose research is centered on human sexuality and relationships, has a collection of erotic Polaroids.
The Flashbak article raised an intriguing possibility that it was “some form of sexual fetish–replacing the act of sex with a camera.” However, it’s also interesting to see that his photos show a distinct aesthetic that is a lot like the artsy Polaroids we see of late, suggesting that it could be a deliberate practice of an aspiring fine art nude photographer.
She organized a nude shoot soon after to see how it would look on Polaroids and fell in love with the results. Feeling fed up with her own photography and the “obsession with perfection,” it became the perfect outlet for going against the industry’s expectations. “Polaroid gave me back that feeling of authenticity. I love how it captures a moment exactly how it was. I particularly like the way it captures delicate skin tones. They often have a dreamlike look.”
These insights give us an alternate view on the appeal of nude Polaroids today; it’s less about the eroticism, and more about the authenticity of the medium for the photographer and how they heighten the mood of nude photography. For female photographers like Kirsten, there’s also the element of the female gaze on nudity, which presents a different take on the female body compared to the traditional male view.
