Pierre Molinier, lui-meme, Limited First Edition, 1972

This is first edition, first printing of Pierre Molinier’s most famous photobook “Pierre Molinier, lui-meme ” published by Rogner & Bernhard, Munich in 1970 with a limitation of 2000 copies. Pierre Molinier was an accomplished painter before the turned to photography having been a part of the Surrealist movement and a close friend of Andre Breton. He has said that he did not think of himself primarily as a photographer but as an artist who fully realized his vision through photography. Vince Aletti in “The Book of 101 Books: Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century” writes,” Opening Pierre Molinier’s, ”lui-meme” is like entering a dimly lit, well-protected private world…Molinier made these photographs in his bourgeois Bordeaux apartment, the ambivalence of their presentation – this reticent, almost reluctant unveiling – is appropriate. But the photos themselves, elaborate autoerotic tableaux staged for the camera, are unforgettably potent and disturbing.” Therese Lichtenstein in Art in America wrote, “The images render precarious and ambiguous the categories of gender, with Molinier sometimes becoming a hermaphroditic figure. He strongly identified with femininity and female sexuality, once declaring, "I am a lesbian"… He was clearly in love with the image of himself as a phallic woman, brandishing long, sharp fingernails, dangerously pointed high heels and long, stockinged legs. Molinier's life and art were deeply entwined, and his images can perhaps be read not only as manifestations of the pleasures of sexual liberation but also as attempts to manage some underlying emotional trauma….his efforts to break away from social restraints and sexual prohibitions culminated in an ultimate transgressive act, carefully staged during a final "performance" in front of a mirror. Molinier pointed a loaded gun slightly below his chin and, instead of pressing a camera's cable release, pulled the trigger.”

Containing 50 very sexually explicit black-and-white photographs that are each protected by a thin black paper overlay and measuring approximately 9.5” x 7”, the book is bound in black cloth covered boards that are stamped in with the title in black. The book is protected with an acetate dust jacket. The book is in FINE condition and the acetate protector is in Near Fine condition with some surface wear. Overall, this is an exceptional copy of a sexually artistic photobook that is becoming increasingly scarce.

Cited in “The Book of 101 Books: Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century” by Andrew Roth

Stock photographs of the book covers as well as some images contained in the book appear in the photo section of the listing.