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Arnold Kovacs (born Apr. 01 1912) photographed Bettie Page at some very
famous camera club outings. He was armed with something more than most of
the other camera club photographers; he had skill. Arnold was a professional
photographer by trade. He worked as a photojournalist for the US Army inside
the European Theater during WWII. WWII and pin-ups go hand-in-hand. The term
"pin-up"was said to have been coined in 1941. It refers to the practice of
G.I.s placing or pinning a photograph, calendar or magazine cut-out on the
inside of their locker to remember the girls back home. Arnold took his love
of photography and the pin-up, and used it for employment when he got back to
the States.
Sam Menning
did the same thing when he returned home from the war only he took a slightly
different path. A path that lead to the wild side. While Arnold focused more
on the girl-next-door type, Sam put his efforts mostly into gloves, shoes
and leather.
Much of Arnold Kovacs' work featuring Bettie Page can be found in Harrison
publications such as Gee Whiz, Rogue, Wink and Titter. The Arnold Kovacs
collection contained least two negatives of different models so I am guessing
that he may have also photographed other models extensively. The Bettie Page
negatives numbered about 250 units. There is a corresponding set of photographs
not all of which match up. Arnold Kovacs lived in Rahway New Jersey at least
from the mid 1950s until his death on Dec. 04 1993.
The images have been roughly ordered by scene.
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