How The Controversial Pink Shots Changed Glamour Photography

There are a lot of different aspects of glamour photography that matter even beyond the obvious aesthetic elements that make for the most tantalising shots of a model.

The glamour aspect of modelling and photography is at its best when it is about liberation and freedom to express one’s own sexuality in the way that one feels most comfortable showing oneself.

Because of this, there is a reputation with glamour shots to consistently push boundaries and push the envelope, something that stretches as far back as the French Postcards.

However, one of the biggest and most important revolutions in glamour photography is found in the legend of the “pink shot”, a landmark moment in photographic history that opened the door for new discussions of sexuality.

Up until the publication of the November 1974 issue of Hustler Magazine, there were certain boundaries that were found with nude photography, with the question of which parts of the human anatomy are too much to show is more than just a philosophical question.

In places with obscenity laws or strict guidelines on what could be published, showing too much genitalia could not only cause controversy but could lead to prison sentences.

Hustler began in July 1974 as a more countercultural alternative to its most direct competitors, Playboy and Penthouse magazine, wanting to be more open in its depiction of sexuality and generally have an anti-establishment, anti-censorship editorial direction.

This would start with what has since been known as a “pink shot”, or a glamour shot of a model with her legs open, which whilst acceptable and even a sign of liberated sexuality in the 2020s, was seen as outrageous and possibly illegal.

In 1976, publisher Larry Flynt was arrested on obscenity charges, leading to a fundamental question of where freedom of speech ended and obscenity began.

Whilst he did spend a few days in prison for this, he would win his appeal, and the resulting consequences are a more healthy and free attitude to how people express themselves through photography.