FROM THE PUBLISHER

Artists have celebrated the beauty of the female form for over 20,000 years. Since the invention of the camera, however, erotic photography has gained a popularity unlike any other medium. The strong reactions to these images attest to their enduring power, and books that collect such images are perennial bestsellers worldwide. In Erotique, over 200 color, duotone, and black-and-white photographs guide the viewer through the techniques, fashions, and styles of erotic photography that have evolved since the mid-19th century.

The images of Jan Saudek, the most provocative figure in the history of czech photography, exhibit a strange mixture of tenderness and violence, lyricism and irony. France's Lucien Clergue explores the female nude as archetypal form. In his "The Giants, Camargue, 1978," multiple bodies take on the appearance of a landscape, and in his "Sea Nude, Camargue, 1958," a female torso seems to be twisting itself free from the ocean. Widely imitated fashion photographer Helmut Newton combines striking erotic and S&M themes. Jean Loup Sieff's skillful use of natural light transforms his subjects into dimensions, maintaining a feel for the space they occupy and giving the viewer a hint of the sensations the models experience.