My Life With Naked Ladies

What Good is a BUSH? January 12, 2006

 by Gern Blanson

 
     If you go back to 1964 when I started to shoot nudes
with a  well know Hollywood photographer as his
assistant, You could not show any pubic hair in any
picture; this was 5 years before Bob Guccioni  of
Penthouse took the first daring steps to bush
liberation. I do remember Playboy having published a
postage stamp size photo of a model and I think the
Post Office tried to ascertain if that black spot
between the models leg was a shadow or black panties
or the real thing. At that size under a magnifying
glass its just a few dots of ink and nothing more: dam
they missed their chance to bust the Hef.

     Today its hard to fine a girl or model that doesn’t
shave her box. In fact it hard to find models who will
let it grow out so you can photograph a full bush. The
full bush is a relic of the past with most young
women. But it always wasn’t so.

     Strippers were the only models that shaved their
pussies at that time, because the vice squad was
always on hairwatch at the local strip joint. So a
stripper has to shave it all off and just cover her
labia and she was legal. Sometimes though a model
would come into the studio and have a bush so big she
could enter it in the local Horticulture club and win
first prize. At that time in 1964 you only had to
worry if it stuck out from the sides of panties. It
would kill a sale if to many stray critters popped out
when they shouldn’t There really isn’t much hair on
the pussies of Asian models, but other ethnic  types,
it’s a different story. I remember a  Persian model we
shot who had so much hair it continued up her belly in
a narrow line that stopped at the navel. The belly
hair presented more of a problem than the big bush did
as we just  kept the panties on for all of the front
shots. If we had to get close-up to half-length then
the trim scissors came out and we cut away just what
was poking out of the bathing suit. These photo shoots
were used in national magazines like Rogue, Ace, Vue,
Caper, Modern Man, Sir, Knight,  and Adam: just to
name a few. They all had strict rules about any pubic
hair.

    Frontal shots were always covered with some silly prop
so it looked like the model was humping a pillow; also
it could be a very provocative shot if the models legs
were wide spread and she had her hands covering or
maybe even a wine bottle. Always watching for that
shot where the short curlies might show.

     At this time the only legally allowed magazines to
show pubic hair were the nudist magazines, but their
poses could not be provocative or sexual in nature.

    Frontal pubic hair was the reason most guys, who had never even been to a nudist colony, bought them.  They were quite big sellers.

     At that time even the models were kind of shy, I
remember them leaving the set to go to the bathroom
and they covered themselves top and front like they
were caught in the nude by accident. It was kind of
hard to even get a glimse of a new models snatch
because they never had to show it on camera and so
they kept it pretty hidden thinking that’s private and
I am good girl, cant see it. Every once in a while you
would get a girl that wasn’t to shy and you could get
a good look at what it looked pussy looked like, If it
wasn’t to covered with snatch hair, one could learn
that different girls had different types of labia.
Some had no outer lips and looked like a Greek statue.
Others had a lot of skin that protruded out from the
other folds. Still others had nothing visible at all.
     Now all of you may think so what! Well, when your
just 19 years old and there were no porno movies or 10
years before Hustler magazine, its of interest. If you
wanted to view snatch, you either had to get the real
think and hope she didn’t want to do it in the dark or
find some illegal photographs that were sold in places
under the counter like a barber shop. They you could
get a vague idea of what was so mysterious about that
sweet spot.

    At about that time in the San Fernando Valley there
was a publisher who was getting very daring in there
pushing the public hair to the surface. They started
with letting it just stick out of the crotch with just
a few hairs. Later they went to see through panties,
then wet see through panties: they were pushing the
line one hair at a time. These magazines were sold in
certain sections of newsstand racks usually in the
back corner of last row. Sometimes they were stapled
shut with an industrial strength staple. That might
have been the compromise with the newsstand, if you
couldn’t see it till you bought  it discouraged
browsing. 

    This publisher American Art and Parliament news were
the pioneers in “pushing pussy hair. Once they broke
that barrier the others followed First Penthouse, then
Hustler and the others followed.

    Once it was legal to shoot open legs, we needed to
make it visible and appetizing. That was it the early
70’s and it presented some challenges.

                         Gern