Nothing But the Girl: The Blatant Lesbian Image: A Portfolio and Exploration of Lesbian Erotic Photography

by Susie Bright (Editor), Jill Posener

"I encourage every woman to open this book and look at these images. What you see here is what some of us see whenever we close our eyes. The lesbian vision is a wide open pupil -unafraid, impassioned, extraordinary. Open your eyes and look again". -- Dorothy Allison"For once, the subject and the object are allowed to tantalize each other and us. The result is historical documentation that's both sexy and significant. The quest for lesbian visibility has never been more fully satisfied". -- Jewel Gomez

This beautifully produced book contains the landmark work of Morgan Gwenwald, Della Grace, Diana Blok, Tee A. Corrine, Jill Posener, Honey Lee Cottrell and others. Each portfolio is accompanied by an in-depth biography of the artist in which they discuss some of the themes that have fueled their own work from sex, SM, gender and race to fashion, the body and nature.

Beyond the impact of the individual photographers, Bright writes about the themes that have fueled lesbian photography: the reproach and confrontations to conventional feminism; the feminist approach to the body; lesbian relationship to popular culture; lesbian relationship to nature; generational differences; the division in dynamics of power and gender bending in lesbian imagery, from androgyny to butch-femme romandcism to gender anarchy. Bright also places the influence of lesbian photography, and women artists, within the context of the art world as a whole. She argues that the work these women have produced is not only exquisite, but revolutionary in content and presentation. All the more remarkable that it has developed despite the overt prejudice and punitive reaction in society against female sexualindependence.

The lesbian image -- sexy, maverick, rebellious, butch yet glamorous, strong and simultaneously vulnerable, that has been pioneered and developed by an extra-ordinary group of lesbian photographers -- is fully documented here in over 150 black and white and color photographs.

Genres: Photography, Queer, Art, Lesbian, Nonfiction, LGBT, Erotica

144 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1997

About the author

Susannah "Susie" Bright (also known as Susie Sexpert) is a writer, speaker, teacher, audio-show host, performer, all on the subject of sexuality. She is one of the first writers/activists referred to as a sex-positive feminist.

Reviews

[Sonnydee · Rating 5 out of 5]

SON. If my place was on fire and I could only save one book from my library, with which I am inordinately pleased, I'd save this one. Hell, if I could only save one thing, period, including my roommate, it would still have to be this book. Sorry, dude. And that's not just because used copies of this thing are damn expensive, either.

This book is goddamn essential to anyone who cares about anything, but especially to lesbians. When my ship comes in I'm going to buy every copy of "Nothing But the Girl" I can get my hands on and travel the country like a gay Johnny Appleseed, planting everywhere I go an appreciation for lesbian art and culture and the radical potential of lesbian desire so that this nation will grow into one of those matriarchal utopias they used to write about in the 70s.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find that photography, like any other visual art form, is susceptible to trends and fads, and individual images are too often firmly dated in their era. But the pictures in this great book of lesbian photography from thirty-three photographers and published in 1996 (I'm guessing there's not a one in the bunch that wasn't shot on – gasp – film) are nearly each one a classic; nothing in them suggests the fashion of a time, or if one does, it can just as easily be interpreted as an intentional throwback.

Fortunately, the images are not only gorgeously composed and shot, but they're also downright hot as hell, even when making political, religious, or other types of statements. But I think the thing that really sets this collection apart is the amount of diversity within. Aside from the expected variations in style, composition, setting, and topic, the models themselves represent white, black, and Hispanic women (however, there are no Asian representatives that I can see), and include the butch, the femme, and the trans; every shape, size, and body type, a range of ages, the disabled; elegant, dressed-up fancy ladies and down-and-dirty rough dykes; sweeping panoramas and close-ups of body parts; orgies, couples, and solo gals; mainstream sex acts through not-so-common kinks; riffs on stereotypes and clichés, plus a few things you definitely haven't seen before.

The design of the book is great too: the accompanying text is in grey sidebars instead of interspersed with the images, which preserves a great flow to perusing the images if you're not really interested in the text your first pass through. It's an extra-large book, too – coffee-table-sized (although you should probably surreptitiously clear it off your coffee table if your parents suddenly drop by) – so you don't need to break out your loupe to appreciate the details. Also, it turns out that I have a doppelgänger, and she can be found within these pages, smiling as she is about to be kissed by an older tattooed woman. It's really the damndest thing how much she looks exactly like me (but in fact is not).

I've taken off one star for the aggregate of the following complaints:

• Although the paper is strong and glossy, the images might seem too grainy for the generation raised with 92 gazillion megapixels. Photography buffs of a certain age however, will likely weep with nostalgia.
• Nearly all the photographs are in black and white. I would have really enjoyed seeing some work in color from these photographers.
• Somewhat related to my complaint immediately previous is that too great a majority of the pictures have really high contrast due to very strong lighting, so cast shadows are usually quite delineated, and in rare instances, the images look like they were overexposed. (This is obviously just a function of my own personal taste – nothing more.)

A treat you'll treasure, except maybe if you're a gay man with absolutely no interest in photography.

[Freyja Vanadis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has pictures of real lesbians that are shown in their natural glory, not the airbrushed bimbos that are featured in the porn mags. Some of the women don't shave, and in fact there's one woman whose legs are so hairy, it would be impossible to tell she's female except for the fact that her bare breast is showing. But she's so butch, with such thick, dark, curly leg hair, that she looks like any guy I've ever seen.

Interesting book with lots of lesbian history.

[Isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite thing I've ever read, but I was genuinely reading it for the art rather than the erotics. Some pictures shocking in their raw beauty and some that freaked me out. It's good to have both, though. A really interesting exploration of lesbian sexuality and its documentation, especially during the sex wars.

[HeavyReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jessica Goodman turned me on to this book when she brought home her new copy. I liked it so much that I went out and bought myself a copy.

This book contains so many photos of such a wide variety of dykes. So cool. So hot. So fine.

[Kit]

This is just a heads up about getting the book/ formats of it as of 11/9/22: You can buy "it" on audible. But it doesn't come with accompanying files with the photographs. I thought it was too good to be true when I saw the audible option, but, with only one paperback copy I could find available that is $$$, I had to try.. Oh well. I wish this would be reprinted.
If anyone has a copy they could pass on to me for $, or lend me - let me know.

[Karen Cavalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paging through this work of Susie Bright's was the antidote to my days as a temp in icy financial institutions in the late 1990s. Most lunch breaks found me at what was the Barnes & Noble in downtown Minneapolis, and I found Bright's book on one of those respites.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

really interesting to see how many of these historic (at this point) lesbian photos id seen before and of course those that i haven’t

i love you lola flash

also a note to whoever stole page 137-138 from the library copy of this i read… rude

[grub · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow! so sexy and fascinating!! loved all the images, also loved the interviews at the end! the used copy i bought has 2 pages cut out and i hope it was some dyke who kept the photos to hang on their wall <3

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jessica Tanzer

Romy Suskin

On Our Backs

[Jovi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

[Coepi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important piece of lesbian history, but not quite my style. Still, I'm glad I got a chance to read it.

[moon]

would kill to find a copy of this that isn't 100+ dollars

[Feydras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great coffee table book edited by Susie Bright. Not at all what you'd expect.

[Allison Thurman · Rating 5 out of 5]

To buy, if I can ever find it.

[Martha Garvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, edgy, sexy, necessary. For everyone who is interested in the erotic gaze.