ABSTRACT
Whether operating in the soft or hardcore realm, the socio-cultural profile of individuals labelled pornographer has been informed by representations in fictional and non-fictional media, and moralists, regulatory bodies and oppositional feminists have usually deployed the term pejoratively. By 1887, Eedweard Muybridge's photographic explorations of anatomical motion were indicating that technical experimentation in photography perhaps functioned unconsciously in erotic contemplation of the human body. Amid this debate, the emergence of particular photographers and filmmakers also moulded the image of the pornographer as an unabashed, professional voyeur. Gubar notes that the majority of historical accounts of pornography have tended to neglect the feminine fictional perspective female voyeurism or fetishism. Notwithstanding the individualism of such creative output, the American porn industry has also been notable for the collaborative community in front of as well as behind the cameras. The figure of the pornographer has sporadically aroused the curiosity of mainstream cinema.
