Erotic Photography - French Influence

French Influence

The initial appearance of picture postcards (and the enthusiasm with which the new medium was embraced) raised some legal issues that can be seen as precursors to later controversies over the internet. Picture postcards allowed and encouraged many individuals to send images across national borders, and the legal availability of a postcard image in one country did not guarantee that the card would be considered "proper" in the destination country, or in the intermediate countries that the card would have to pass through. Some countries refused to handle postcards containing sexual references (in seaside postcards) or images of full or partial nudity (for instance, in images of classical statuary or paintings). Many French postcards were produced with naked women in erotic poses. These were sold as postcards but whose primary purpose was not for sending by post because they would have been banned. Street dealers, tobacco shops, and a variety of other vendors bought the photographs for resale to tourists.

Instead, nude photographs were marketed in a monthly magazine called "La Beaute" that targeted artists looking for poses. Each issue contained 75 nude images which could be ordered by mail, in the form of postcards, hand-tinted or sepia toned.