Customer Reviews

The Private Collection Box: 1970-1979

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first thing to say is these are mini books: check out the dimensions in Product Details. Taschen produced a similar sized box about the art of Tom of Finland and several reviewers didn't realize they were getting small volumes.

Bearing the size in mind it obviously means that where a photo is half a page it's really two and a half inches deep. Fortunately not many are and anyway Berth Milton, publisher and snapper-in-chief, made sure all the photos were pin sharp, nothing soft core here. Each book has eight or nine photo stories of the usual man (or men) meets woman and they all end up naked and sated. As the images were taken in the seventies and mostly in Scandinavia the male and female fashions and décor give a rather quaint look to the proceedings but nicely in contrast to today's hardcore these folk actually look like they are enjoying themselves.

Overall an interesting nostalgic look back at the magazine that set very high standards in photography and was well printed (another thing that publisher Milton was in charge of) and was the first publication to kick-start the modern porn franchise in the late sixties, now more or less taken over by the internet. Book five gives a plug for the next box set: 'Private in the eighties', coming out late 2010.

***LOOK INSIDE THE BOX click 'customer images' under the cover.

I saw my first copy of Private in 1974, and my reaction was "wow!", not just because this genre was verboten where I was at the time, but because the magazine did it so well. For quite a while now, however, Private has gone the way of its competitors which is to say, ho hum photoshoots indistingushable from those of thousands of others on the net, and it has heavily indulged its publishers' prediliction for gangbangs, which don't do much for me, and anal activities which I'm not into.
The freshness of the 1970s comes through in this miniature set - and the exotic locations are great - but it is a shame that the page format is only about a third the original magazine size, only one or two photo sets from each issue or included and even with these not all the original text (which was well crafted) is included, despite the claim that it is. For that reason it desn't get five stars. But there is still enough nostalgia about that era awakened by this, and the printing quality is sharp enough that you can use a magnifying glass without quality suffering too much.

This boxed set is a real treat for someone like me who grew up in England. In the 1970s Private magazine was a synonym for pornography. It set the standard and was sought after and coveted by anyone able to get a copy, which wasn't always easy, as it was banned throughout Britain. Taschen has done a superb job selecting the photos for this little hand-sized book collection. The swinging `70s hair, make-up and clothes alone are worth the price, but anyone who knows Private will know there's a lot more to it than that. These are explicit sex photos posed by free-spirited Swedes during the sexual revolution. Their bodies are natural, their breasts are real, and their enjoyment of the sex seems just as genuine. If all the fakery of modern porn bores you, take a look at a time when sex was fresh, new and exciting.

This box set is great, it's like being a kid again, all hunched over in the attic with a flashlight, looking through that box your dad didnt think you knew about.
Another fine Taschen collection.

This is a brilliant set for those who truly appreciate strong erotic photography. I cannot reccomend it enough!