''Private'' is a
pornographic magazine published by the Swedish publisher and distributor
Private Media Group. The magazine is known for its combination of high-quality photography and depiction of sex acts typical of
hardcore pornography such as
anal sex, an innovation at the time of its creation. The American pornographer
Al Goldstein described it as "
hebest porno magazine in the world".
The magazine was created in 1965 by the Swedish photographer
Berth Milton Sr., who initially included his pornographic photographs in erotic magazines, which he distributed in his bookshop in
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
. He sold the first issues of his magazine himself to newspaper kiosks, since there was no distribution for such magazines.
After the 1966
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
decision ''
Memoirs v. Massachusetts'', the
prohibition of pornography in the United States was questioned for the first time. The magazine, previously
distributed under the counter in the United States, has since been sold openly there and, from its ninth issue, is considered the United States' first legally distributed pornographic magazine.
Since the mid-1980s, Private has been published in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, Spain, which was the second largest market for pornographic products after Germany.
The magazine became the best-selling pornographic magazine in the world, before losing importance in the course of the
digitalization of pornography in the 1990s.
Private Media Group was founded in 1991 by
Berth Milton Jr. who extended the ''Private'' brand by adding web offerings to the portfolio, expanded video production and successfully took the company public. The magazine ''Private'', which forms the cornerstone of the company, continues to this day.
The erotic art book publisher
Taschen has published two collections, each in five volumes, featuring photographic works published in ''Private'' in the 1970s and 1980s.
[Dian Hanson: ''Private 1970-1979''. Taschen, Köln 2009, ISBN 3822845086 & ''Private 1980-1989''. Taschen, Köln 2009, ISBN 3822845094.]
References
{{reflist
Pornographic magazines
Pornographic men's magazines
1965 establishments in Sweden
Bi-monthly magazines published in Sweden