It’s easy to forget just how restricted sexuality was in the 1930s when you see the photography from Studio Biederer. A Parisian photography studio founded by two Czech brothers, Jacques Biederer (1887-1942) and Charles Biederer (1892-1942), Studio Biederer specialized in fetish, femdom, and lesbian photography. They published images that put today’s filtered, plastered, and plumped IG models to shame, because there wasn’t a whole lot you could do to alter images in the 20s and 30s, and the cosmetic surgery industry wasn’t really a thing yet. Studio Biederer’s photos range from voyeuristic images of pretty, innocent young French women frolicking nude together to full-on femdom beatings. You can also check out their BDSM short film Dressage au fouet here, filmed by Jacques Biederer and starring a real mistress and slave relationship.
