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Shy, Shamed, Secret, Shadowed, Hidden
SSSSH!
Vintage Vernacular Erotic Photographs
By Jim Linderman
Alliteration has been used before to describe exposed women. Think "Va Va Voom" from a 1950's film as a walk-on looker passes by. In this case, it applies and forms an acronym of uncanny relevance. Shy Shamed Secret Shadowed Hidden, or SSSSH! as the collection is known, covers the photos within perfectly. All the photographs are anonymous and from virtually every photographic technique which reached the popular masses. That many were tucked carefully into wallets or hidden safely in a shoebox gives an indication of their importance to the owners. That each and every one depicts a woman hiding herself gives fodder for thought.
Who do we see here? Certainly not glamour photography. Not Bruno of Hollywood or even inept figure studies. When lucky, the studio is a 50 watt bulb on a frayed cord. The spouse on occasion, but those are the "gotcha" shots...in the tub, slamming the door, bent-over at the wrong time. Pratfalls of pulchitrude. More often, these are the girl next door who could keep a secret. The paid escort who snuck into the hotel. The b-girl who just didn't mind, or needed something in return. A woman forced into it by circumstance or need. A woman choosing her own circumstance or need. Someone's sister, mother, relative, girlfriend, lover, plaything, victim paramour or drinking companion. A human being seeking love, favor, excitement, titillation, rewards. An amateur clutching a shirt to her face, or a former novice wearing a provided mask. Intoxicated, drugged or completely in charge. There is no end to justifications or motivations...just as there is no end to the photographs. We are human, we have needs, we scheme, manipulate, tease and flaunt in equal measure. These photos do not depict games or gamers, they depict life in the most immediate, intimate and possibly, illegal moments. They depict secrecy at the most basic, intimate core.
Hapless models, often as bent and bruised as the photos. "Pristine" applies to neither. But each and every one is real, authentic as the highway is straight. Pretty? Seldom. Alluring? Again, often not. But then, both a certain humanity and glimmers of genuine beauty emerge. An accidental turn, a playful smile, a conspiring laugh. Shared moments of genuine pleasure or quirky partnership, even if fleeting, furtive and gone. The start of a long friendship or lasting love but just as likely a brief moment of social intercourse preserved only in the emulsion on yellowing paper. Strong fodder for thought. Who are these women, these neighbors, these victims or libertines?
The "models" themselves are often bent and bruised like the photographs, but there is a massive dose of humanity in this collection. That they were intended to be a secret adds to their honesty and authenticity. Scarce images to be sure, but that is because they were hidden...and if found tossed away in horror. No one would understand but the participants now long gone, or the secretive owner.
Such images are far, far more common now, and slightly less daring. Women and men post similar photos of themselves on dating sites, risque or not, but their features are hidden by digital masks. Young boys call them "sexting" and snatch them in the hallway before sending them along the cyber-trail. But in physical form like these? There may be some at the next estate sale, if the relatives didn't look too close.
