Customer Reviews

The Rotenberg Collection : Forbidden Erotica

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3 star:		(1)
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The first TASCHEN volume of Mark Rotenberg's photo collection featured 768 pages of classic 1950s cheesecake. This spicy, new volume, The Rotenberg Collection: FORBIDDEN EROTICA, features wild, hardcore photographs that would make your great-grandmother squirm (and in fact, may have...) How extraordinary to see ladies in bloomers and men sporting handlebar moustaches engaged in the most explicit and arousing acts of lovemaking. There's no question about it - kinky sex and a predilection to capture it on film is not a recent invention! The Rotenberg Collection: FORBIDDEN EROTICA is a unique opportunity to peek behind history's closed doors - and under its rustling skirts.

This book is little more than a collection of pornographic photographs taken during the earliest years of photography. But that is the true charm of the volume. The demonstration of the fact that there is nothing new under the Sun in sexual matters may seem obvious, but the cultural context of such material adds a fascinating element to otherwise common subject matter. It also demonstrates that whenever a new graphic media is invented, one of the earliest subjects to be portrayed is sure to be sexual activity. The photography is generally of good quality technically, but the differences between these old photos and modern ones are many. First, the women are rarely as thin or muscular as today's standards demand, but may be more feminine for it. Odd as it may seem, the faces of the women are he most interesting part of many of the pictures. Some are feigning ecstacy, some are happily smiling, and others are either bored or annoyed. The backgrounds vary from the outdoors to staged sets that seem as laughable as an old silent film. This is the average person doing what comes naturally and expanding that concept dramatically. Let's face it, before radio and television, the only toys you could be sure everyone had were the ones they were born with. After a time, the reader becomes accustomed to the very different world that he is visiting, and eventually comes to wonder at the uniformity of modern work, and its arbitrary standards. This may not be the most titillating work you've ever seen, but it is fascinating, and deserves a place on your private bookshelf.

"Forbidden Erotica: The Rotenberg Collection, Tashen 2000, ISBN 3-8228-6413-7, is a collection of more than 1000 photographs and a few cartoons with an intense explicit sexual theme that transcends the true nature of erotic or nude imagery and for which I must coin a new term 'para-erotic' to describe these obscene, lewd, hard-core graphic and pornographic images, the majority of which were taken between the 1870's and the 1940's. This indicated pornography began to be popularized shortly after the photographic process was invented and popularized and photo duplication methods were devised.

An intimate and informative introduction is given by Laura Mirsky. Additionally she provides an interview with collector Mark Rotenberg who vividly contrasts vintage to that of modern-day pornography. Indeed, some of the photographs are obviously posed, sometimes humorous and if not vaunting then making mockery of present-day decency.

The title gives ample warning that The "Rotenberg Collection"0 in all likelihood contains lascivious, vulgar, smutty and barnyard images. So, knowing that, and given the Mirsky introduction, there is justification that such a book should serve some useful literary purpose - one which is not that of exemplary eroticism.

Does it belong in a collection of erotic? Well yes...and no. It is not for the coffee table but someplace less obvious, and better in the manner of "sotto voce."

I'm a big fan of TASCHEN books; they are full and lush and the ultimate coffee table books. This book is no exception. Some of the images in this book are very funny, some will disturb as haunted eyes stare into the camera. These images would be shocking to some even today. Having read some Victorian erotica, I was prepared, but I still don't find urine (a common theme) particularly erotic. I only wish there were more early s/m images

"Forbidden Erotica: The Rotenberg Collection, Tashen 2000, ISBN 3-8228-6413-7, is a collection of more than 1000 photographs and a few cartoons with an intense explicit sexual theme that transcends the true nature of erotic or nude imagery and for which I must coin a new term 'para-erotic' to describe these obscene, lewd, hard-core graphic and pornographic images, the majority of which were taken between the 1870's and the 1940's. This indicated pornography began to be popularized shortly after the photographic process was invented and popularized and photo duplication methods were devised.

An intimate and informative introduction is given by Laura Mirsky. Additionally she provides an interview with collector Mark Rotenberg who vividly contrasts vintage to that of modern-day pornography. Indeed, some of the photographs are obviously posed, sometimes humorous and if not vaunting then making mockery of present-day decency.

The title gives ample warning that The "Rotenberg Collection"0 in all likelihood contains lascivious, vulgar, smutty and barnyard images. So, knowing that, and given the Mirsky introduction, there is justification that such a book should serve some useful literary purpose - one which is not that of exemplary eroticism.

Does it belong in a collection of erotic? Well yes...and no. It is not for the coffee table but someplace less obvious, and better in the manner of "sotto voce."

this is the way i like my smut. old and slightly kinky. so what if the bodies aren't chiseled to perfection and some of the images are fuzzy. not to mention, everyone is over 18 yet under 25.

these photos make you laugh and some of them really are provocative. and smut should do that. nowadays, everyone is just too serious and the only one that gets over is the plastic surgeon.

This is one of the few satisfactory vintage erotica books I have seen. The illustrations are reproduced clearly and there are an abundance of them.

I recommend the book.

Mark Rotenberg was inspired to begin collecting lost and forgotten erotic photographs after he stumbled upon over a thousand very graphic vintage photos in a dumpster in Brooklyn. His collection now tops out at about 95,000 photos covering the period from 1860 to 1960. This is Taschen's second book centering upon the work in Rotenberg's amazing collection. This is an astounding presentation of vintage hardcore photography. It's amazing how hardcore things were even back then. For anyone who has an interest in vintage erotica this book is a must have.

This wonderfully erotic book of provactive pictures truely enhanced me and my partners boring sex life. It helped us to discover new things we never knew about each other. The pictures helped us to release our truely animalistic urges. It made us realize we were both truely dirty in the inside. And it was great. Perhaps, with this book, you too can experience the steamy pleasures of forbidden erotica. Happy reading and happy...... you know what else.

I have to admit that when I first received the book I was both surprised and ... unpleased by some of the photos, a bit tasteless. But, having said that, I think that this is a very good asset to this book since it shows sexual relationship in all sort of shapes and combinations. A richer approach than the one usually given. A part from that I think that the price is a bit dear for what it offers. In any case it is a curious piece of erotic and it needs to be seen as this.