Eros Series #0

Welcome to the inaugural volume of Vasta Editions’ Eros Series, a window into the history of smut from the archives of Vasta Images/Books. Our archives are focused on the body, nudes and erotica of the 19th and 20th centuries. The Eros Series will be curated from rare and unusual books, magazines, photographs, postcards and other paper ephemera.

This first collection focuses on the Golden Age of the late ‘50s/early ‘60s fetish magazines, namely digest-sized volumes published by the likes of Burmel and Exotique. While these underground publications were too risqué for the newsstand and could only be found in adult book stores and sex shops, their cultural influence was widespread, popularizing the aesthetics of BDSM in America’s dark subconscious.

There is an archetypal aspect that runs through these photos and illustrations, a veritable style guide interpreted in various ways since their inception: the hardcore fetish smut of the ‘70s, the arch, goth-tinged fetish parties of the ‘90s, the neo-traditional and repurposed crate-digging looks of the mid twentyteens.

And yet these images retain their power as the model for fetish art defined 60 years ago.

OUT OF PRINT