Betty Page's Bondage Photos on View in Milan

The exhibition 'Scabrosa e sorridente Betty Page' at Expowall in Milan, part of Photofestival 2017, presents over eighty photographs of 1950s pin-up model Betty Page from the collection of Maurizio Rebuzzini, director of FOTOgraphia magazine and photography history professor at Università Cattolica. Page, who worked only from 1950 to 1957, became an erotic icon through her playful poses for amateur and professional photographers, notably Bunny Yeager (who shot her for Playboy's December 1955 centerfold) and the Klaw brothers (Irving and Paula), who specialized in mail-order fetish imagery. The photos, mostly 10x13 cm black-and-white prints by Paula Klaw, were acquired by Rebuzzini over twenty years, mainly in New York. Rebuzzini notes the images lack technical artistry but hold documentary value as records of mid-century sexual mores. The collection of 489 photographs also includes unknown models for comparison. Page's legacy is tied to her ironic, joyful approach to BDSM themes, predating later figures like Helmut Newton.