PENTHOUSE PHOTO WORLD Nº2 - 1976
An offshoot of Penthouse Magazine which includes but goes beyond the erotic to focus on photography, photo-essays, relevant interviews, cameras and equipment.
There's something intrinsically beautiful about vintage camera ads, a sweet naivety to the details of 'modern' tech advancements of the 70's. Our cameras might have eclipsed these of the past but the past kept all the style.
The first feature is a selection of work by Irina Ionesco. "Her primary motivation - to release interior demons by materialising them photographically." Like Sally Mann, Irina also caused controversy by using her prepubescent daughter in her work.
The collection of controversial photographers continues with an interview and and selection of work by David Hamilton who has a lifetime of beautiful ethereal work with a sordid ending having hung himself in Paris at 83 years old as allegations of prior abuse started to surface amongst the #metoo movement.
One photographer who's work you might not expect inside a Penthouse publication is that of Henri Cartier-Bresson who with a mini interview offers us a few of his personal favourites.
The standout feature of the issue is a selection of Jill Freedman's two months with a travelling circus, fulfilling her childhood dreams of the circus with her camera. Her choice of 28mm lens creates such luminous scenes, still shots that are bursting with living movement and black and white film rich with colour.