Sun, Aug 2 2009 | Published in Babes, Badassery, Hot 70s Babes

Ebay Search Leads to Discovery of Early Porn, Part 2

By: Steel Trap

Uschi Digart and a 70s Van, man!

Broham’s Exclusive Interview with Photographer William Melton (Cont’d)…

How did you break into the industry? Was it difficult and did you have steady work?

I probably submitted 15 sets of photographs to magazines before I sold my first photos. A personal friend of mine that I had done his wedding for was an editor of a nudist magazine and he called me into his office in Hollywood after I had submitted photos to him on request and he went over my proof sheets with me and proceeded to make me feel like an amateur photographer which is what I was doing nude photography. I had graduated from a great photography school in Los Angeles and we were taught that we were professionals when we graduated. What they didn’t tell us was how to shoot for nude magazines because they didn’t consider that appropriate photography. After working with him for one hour, I started selling my work. His main criticism was don’t crop your photos the way you like them let the photo editor do it. After that I had steady work in the industry.

What all publications have you shot for? Who was the best to work with?

After all these years I can’t remember all the magazines that used my work but I did a lot of work for Fling, Sir, and many others that are not around anymore. I also did a lot of work for the motorcycle magazines, Popular Photography, Popular Mechanics, Nudist World, and many joke magazines such as Joker that used girlie photos. I also did a lot of personal nude work for people that just wanted professional photographs of wives or girlfriends.

What was your proudest moment as a photographer?

My proudest moment was when I was working at North American during the Apollo program and was able to see a launch of one of the space crafts that I had shot pictures of during the manufacturing. Later, I was able to print a lot of the photos that were shot during the orbit.

Did you ever shoot in other genres?

My photography career has spanned over 50 years and I worked in many venues. I did studio portraits, weddings, industrial photography,three years in a detective agency doing surveillance for divorces and many undercover jobs. I worked in the movie industry shooting stills from the movie sets. I have done a lot of catalog work and still work for a former company doing all the photo work for their yearly catalog. I spent 9 years at North American during the space program in their photo lab both in the lab and as a photographer. I worked 6 years in the photo processing industry. I worked 3 years as a custom photo lab manager and had the honor of printing custom photographs from Ansel Adams negatives for a gallery showing. I have worked in a wide variety of venues but my main love has always been doing nude work and have continued to do nude work today but on a smaller scale.

Who was your favorite model and who was your go-to model?

Of course my favorite model was Uschi and whenever I needed special models on request for private customers, she was always my go to model.

What was Bettie Page like? Have any stories about a legend?

Like I said, I never photographed Bettie but I worked with another photographer that did and he told me that in her later years when she had a hard time getting jobs because she had so many photos of her in circulation, she would model for private sessions for amateur photographers that wanted her to show more or do more than she did in her early career. Of course she wouldn’t sign model releases but now that she has passed away, a lot of those photos are now being sold on the internet.

How about Uschi? Was she cool? Did she know she’d one day be legendary too?

I don’t know if you would consider Uschi cool but she was the type of model that was always in control when she was modeling and always drew the line on what she would do or not do. There are a lot of websites out there that feature her as a porn star but Uschi never did hard core porn but did do what we used to call in the early days as soft core or just acting. There are over 200 movies out there that she is in but in reality she probably only did around sixty. What they used to do in those early days was use Uschi because she was beautiful and busty and use her for a specific movie and then shoot a lot of footage and then splice her into other movies as sexy footage when they needed extra fill. I don’t think she has ever considered herself as a legend but she certainly is to all of her fans and also in mine. They consider Bettie Page as the most photographed model in the world but I bet Uschi has been photographed more in her career than Bettie did. Uschi had a far longer modeling career than anyone in the business.

Do you ever just look back and say to yourself, “Damn! That was pretty awesome!”

I look back at all the years in this business and even now as I am retired but still shooting ( over 55 years WOW ) I think it has all been pretty awesome. I am right now putting together a black and white photograph series of old barns and farm buildings that I’ve photographed in my travels in the United States to show people some of our farm history. I have covered 42 states in the last three years and when I finish in all 50, I’ll try to do a gallery showing. I may be one of the few photographers left that still uses B&W film. I do use digital for most of my other work but I still have my negative cameras and also my own darkroom and print all my own photographs.

Thank you very much, William, for this insight into a world we only knew through a body of work such as yours!

Thank you for giving me the outlet to look back in time and reflect on my career in this time of my life.

If you are or were once a photographer who’s had the distinction of photographing legendary subjects, we’d like to hear from you as well! Please contact us on our Facebook, Twitter or Myspace pages for further information.


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One Comment

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    August 29, 2011 | Permalink |

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Ebay Search Leads to Discovery of Early Porn, Part 2