Early nude

The daguerreotype marked the birth of nude photography in the mid-19th century. Introduced in the early 1800s, it gained popularity during the 1840s and 1850s, providing a medium to capture some of the earliest nude images in photographic history.

The history of 20th-century nude photography is a journey through art, censorship, liberation, and cultural shifts. At the century’s start, nude photography remained highly controversial, primarily relegated to the realm of fine art and boudoir photography. Early photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston broke boundaries by elevating nude photography as high art, focusing on form, light, and shadow, with respect for the human body as an expressive subject.

By the 1990s and into the early 21st century, the perception of nude photography began to shift as cultural attitudes toward nudity grew more polarized. The rise of digital media and social platforms changed the landscape, making it easier to share and consume images outside traditional publications.

Untitled, from the ‘Early Nude Series’, c. 1970

Early 20th century studio portrait of a nude / naked young woman – probably the work of a French photography studio