Parallel Development Returns

Spotted something interesting on Amazon just now... two books in my "recommendations" area, almost side by side, and I couldn't help but notice the similarity between the covers. They are LoveSong: The Erotic Photographs of Arnold Skolnick (above left) which is due out February 14th this year, and More Nudes by Andreas H. Bitesnich (above right) which was released October of 2007. I'm sure they're both wonderful books, and they would certainly be a wonderful gift for your favorite photographer (cough) or anyone who enjoys art nude work. Oddly, Skolnick's photos for this book were taken in the early 1970s, but were hidden away as too racy, even as illustrations for a book on "sexual love." So, despite Skolnick's cover shot being made when Bitesnich was too young to buy a beer, with the unlikelihood of Bitesnich having seen the shots Skolnick has had under wraps for 30+ years, the similarities are rather dramatic. Add to it that the images were both chosen to be cover shots for books released within a few months of each another is a remarkable coincidence, and is just further evidence that very few things are completely new, even when conceived completely independently. (This is NOT a defense of willing plagiarism, obviously.)

And just so this post has one of MY images in it, here's one I found of Nemi and Rob from a hot August day that's sort of in the ballpark of the poses shown above... if you think about it, there are only so many ways of doing it, and only so many angles of approach. Next time though, maybe we'll use a little body oil. ;)

On edit, 11:45pm Jan 5: The above entry was thrown together in a few minutes after seeing the two books pop up on Amazon, and is in no way a response to this discussion over on the Fluffytek blog, which I'd not read until just now.