A few years ago, I came across some old, musty books by a British photographer named John Everard. After leafing through them, I bought the whole lot immediately. The books, called Artist's Model, Second Sitting, and Model in Movement had publication dates from the nineteen fifties, and were sold as reference books for artists although, I'm sure, given the societal constraints at the time, that they were sold to many non-artists as well.

The general format of the book is that each two page spread consists of one full-page photograph of a model in a given pose. The other page in the spread shows that same model in the same pose from nine twelve different angles covering a full 360° rotation and usually with more even lighting. It is, in many ways, very similar to the more recent "Virtual Pose" series of books.

Though some of the images are dated, the quality of the photography is quite stunning, evoking a feel reminiscent of the old hollywood portraits taken during the thirties and forties. The books are primarily filled with female models, though there are small sections in each book with pictures of men and children. Some of the content will appear just downright silly to the modern viewer, but overall, these books are an excellent reference source, and I'm glad I found them.

I recently stumbled across a PDF file online that contains most of the plates from the first book "Artist's Model", and thought I'd post the link to it for those not fortunate to own the printed version. This version does not have the male models nor the pictures of children, but it does have the bulk of the female images. You can find the 50 meg download here.