A color photograph shows a young woman peering through a camera to snap a shot of two naked bodies—one male, one female—intertwined

A color photograph shows a young woman peering through a camera to snap a shot of two naked bodies—one male, one female—intertwined.

Horizontally aligned such that neither is on top, the nude figures are severely cropped by the edges of the frame. We see only torsos, legs, and a single, embracing arm.

Behind the photographer, a giant painting of another naked couple looms. Mostly what we see of that picture is a woman’s imposing thigh, arm, and breast, all rendered, improbably, in shades of baby blue...

 Semmel was photographed and interviewed by "Viva" for a feature article titled “Women in the Erotic Arts,” which boldly proclaimed that “for the first time in the history of art . . . women artists are expressing sexuality on their own terms, reflecting and discovering their own perceptions stripped of traditional mythologies, unfettered by accepted imagery.” — Richard Meyer, "Artforum," September 2013

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Image: Joan Semmel from “Women in the Erotic Arts” by Lynda Crawford, "Viva," January 1974.

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