Who is Irving Klaw?

Since the beginning of time, or at least the dawn of the daguerreotype, one subject has captivated artists of all mediums and movements alike with its beauty, intrigue, and mystique; The female form, for many, even those God fearing amongst you, there is nothing more beautiful than a naked woman. Any woman, any time. Erotic photography has captivated artists, such as one of its forefather Irving Klaw, theoreticians, and consumers for two centuries. Prior to 1839, nude renderings were namely produced via drawings, paintings and engravings, all of which lacked the detail and veracity of the photograph. Thus, there was something inherently more illicit about an erotic photograph than a painting of the same subject. They were considered closer to real life. It was from that fetish, depicting people in fetishistic situations such as bondage, BDSM, transvestism, and domination that Irving Klaw found his calling.

Irving Klaw was a pioneer in the world of bondage and fetish photography. It was his pictures and movies that established the famous pin up model, Bettie Page as an icon. Klaw was born in Brooklyn in 1911 and began his career as the owner of a book and photo store on 14th street in lower Manhattan. When he realized that photos began outselling the books, he renamed his store “Irving Klaw Pin-up Photos.” He lured buyers to his store front by advertising, “Pin-up photos of your favorite movie stars, latest movie scenes, bathing beauties, popular cowboy stars, and vocalists, bandleaders.” Long before Mr. Skin, Irving Klaw understood star power. As the store started to flourish, so did his fame. Towards the end of the 1940’s, Klaw added a new and startling type of picture to his business. These photos featured pretty young females tied up, gagged, and dressed in bizarre leather, rubber, and satin wardrobes. Commercial bondage photography was born.

The new business boomed, and Klaw quickly became known as the king of the new genre. His content far outstripped the combined product of all his competitors. By the late 1940s, he was receiving frequent requests for these “damsel-in-distress” photos of actresses being bound and gagged, spanked, and flogged.

It was through his production company, Nutrix Co., that Klaw and his sister, Paula, published and distributed illustrated adventure and bondage series by fetish artists such as Eric Stanton, Gene Bilbrew, and Adolfo Ruiz. After the surprise success of the B-movie, Strip-O-Rama, a 1953 burlesque revue with famous striptease artists and Bettie Page, Klaw quickly duplicated the formula and directed his own burlesque features. It was during this time that Klaw set up weekend home-movie sessions where he produced scores of silent 8mm and 16mm black-and-white film loops. These featured striptease acts and an assortment of fetishistic subjects based on special requests from his clientele.

The Wild World Of Betty Page gathers together 80 classic photographs of Page, never before published in a single volume, which cover almost every aspect of her modelling work with Klaw. From sexy pin-ups in lingerie and fetish-wear to more intense scenes of sado-masochism, bondage, spanking and cat-fights, this anthology presents the essential Betty Page. The photographs selected also feature many of Klaw's other regular bondage models.