Photographers - Part 86

Vincenzo Galdi

Vincenzo Galdi (1871-1961) was an Italian art student whom German photographer Wilhelm von Pluschow took as his photography mentor and probably his lover.  Above, a photo of Galdi taken by von Pluschow in 1890, when Galdi was 19.

Galdi opened his own photography studio in Rome and continued to collaborate with von Pluschow.  Galdi took many nude photos, both male and female.  Above, Four Male Nudes, c. 1905.

But Galdi's work became increasingly explicit.  He was the first photographer in Italy to publish photos of men with erections.

He also published photos of couples having sex, both straight and gay.  The photo above is merely suggestive.

This one takes it a little further, kissing and touching each other.

Even further.

About to do it ...

and doing it.  This photo was probably hand-colored.

So, Vincenzo Galdi was one of the first porn photographers.

In 1902, von Pluschow was convicted of "seduction of minors" and spent eight months in jail.  Galdi may have been arrested and sentenced in 1907 for "outraging public morals" with his photographs, and the police closed both von Pluschow's and Galdi's studios.  Galdi then abandoned photography and became an art dealer until his death in 1961.