French photographer Serge Jacques had the audacity to showcase the pubic area of his models in the 1950's, and this both cost him (he was blacklisted, harassed, and arrested by the authorities) and propelled him to greater fame. That he continued with his work despite the regular raids upon his studio and darkroom is a strong statement to the sheer will of the man. He forged ahead with his legendary pin-up magazine Paris-Hollywood. This book from Taschen is a celebration of both the daring artist and the magazine itself, for which the book is named. Jacques' groundbreaking nudes were painstakingly created in and out of doors. At his studio he built elaborate sets, often out of papier-mâché, to create the perfect fantasy world for his photographs. For Jacques Hollywood was not just a city, but a state of mind, a land where everyone's sexual freedoms were given free rein. And this enchanted him. 

Taschen's Paris-Hollywood is an excellent compilation of Serge Jacques' finest work and will be sure to excite even the most sophisticated viewers. It's remarkable that he was doing this type of photography a full decade before American publisher Larry Flynt fought his famous battles to showcase his models' entire body for the subscribers of his magazine, HUSTLER.