untitled (erotic portrait),

ca. 1854

Despite the French government’s efforts to prevent an underground market for erotic photography during the medium’s early decades, the trade was so profitable that many photographers were willing to risk arrest. To evade police censors, photographers frequently changed the locations of their studios and mailed licentious images to customers. Early erotic photographs rarely suggest pleasurable experiences for the female models, who were often prostitutes, as seen in this woman’s uncomfortable expression, her eye contact with the viewer, and her seemingly aloof response to the sexual encounter.