Fetish Photography a Brief History
Malice Orchid for 180 degree imaging
© 180 degree imaging, 2005. All Rights Reserved.

The discovery of photography during the first third of the 19th century changed the way that we viewed the world. It comes as no surprise that the nude is as old as the history of photography. However, fetish photography, especially in the BDSM realm, spanking, bondage and sadomasochism, was a secretive world driven underground by prejudice and the persecution of those who dared to indulge in their fantasies

It was not long after the first images emerged that the desire to view the nude form arose. Knowing without a doubt that these pictures were of a real person, exposed, created an extra thrill for the viewer.
   
The earliest erotic photography was of a girl showing an exposed shoulder, or, even more often, a study of nudes. The obscenities of yesterday would be considered tame today. While, back then, there were some very explicit photographs, many were simply softly sensual. Photography made it possible for fantasies and dark secrets, once available only to the few, to be revealed and recorded, and erotic photography became available to the masses.
   
The secretive underground world that erotic fetish existed in for so many years, meant that photographers and their fetish community were at great risk if the photographs or activities were discovered. Any photographs found were confiscated and destroyed. Many photographers destroyed their own photographs when the fear of discovery came knocking at their door.


As Oscar Wilde once said “one man’s pornography is another man’s erotica”, but attitudes being as they were, people mistook fetish as pornography, which is, in actuality, worlds apart, and early pictures of the fetish genre are scarce, and often damaged.

It took a long time for fetish photography to break into mainstream acceptance. Bondage heroines, dominant men and women, photographers who wanted to chronicle the underground cultures, and a wealth of interesting and colorful people have helped make fetish photography a legitimate art form.

   

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