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• November 11, 2008 5:03 PM
• News

Revealed! Meisel's Pervy Japanese Inspiration for Steamy Photoshoot

By Gabriel Bell

So, as everyone hoped it would be, the Steven Meisel shoot that was rejected from Italian Vogue for being racy is… well, racy. As the Cut shows us, in the editorial (above) that has now found a home in the current issue of V Magazine, Meisel used infrared film to catch some all-American boys and girls doing some very unsavory things in the dark of night. Yeah, it's a tad pervy—but it's nowhere near as nasty as the apparent inspiration behind the editorial—the infamous infrared shots taken by Kohei Yoshiyuki (below.) Taken in the 1970s in Tokyo's Chuo Park— known for public, yet furtive sex under cover of night—the unsimulated boinking in Yoshiyuki's pics wasn't so much the point, though. The art was all about the other men huddled around the coupling couples, peeping the night away. Ick. Thing is, with the Meisel pictorial, it's us who are doing all the watching. Double ick. (The Cut).

Above, left: The Meisel shoot. Above, right: The Inspirational Kohei Yoshiyuki shoot.

Above, The Meisel.


Above, The Yoshiyuki.


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