Dwight Hooker (June 22, 1928 – January 3, 2015) was an American photographer and architect. He was best known as a photographer for ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine and has been described as one of the masters of "the sensual and the erotic", along with photographers

Helmut Newton Helmut Newton (né Neustädter; 31 October 192023 January 2004) was a German-Australian photographer. The ''The New York Times, New York Times'' described him as a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically ch ...

and J. Frederick Smith. One of his photographs became the basis of ''

Lenna Lenna (or Lena) is a standard test image used in the field of digital image processing, starting in 1973. It is a picture of the Swedish model Lena Forsén, shot by photographer Dwight Hooker and cropped from the centerfold of the November ...

'', the standard test image for

image processing An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be displayed through other media, including a pr ...

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...

s (such as

compression Compression may refer to: Physical science *Compression (physics), size reduction due to forces *Compression member, a structural element such as a column *Compressibility, susceptibility to compression * Gas compression *Compression ratio, of a ...

and

denoising Noise reduction is the process of removing noise from a signal. Noise reduction techniques exist for audio and images. Noise reduction algorithms may distort the signal to some degree. Noise rejection is the ability of a circuit to isolate an u ...

) and related scientific publications.

Career

Hooker photographed the centerfold featuring Lena Söderberg for the best-selling edition of ''Playboy'', the November 1972 edition issue, which sold 7,161,561 copies. A cropped image from that pictorial, known as ''

'', became the standard test image for image processing algorithms (such as compression and denoising) and related scientific publications. Hooker originated and provided the photographs for the magazine's commercial campaign "What sort of a man reads Playboy?", which became an example of sociodemographic segmentation for advertising campaigns. It featured young, educated and urban men who had money and were not averse to spending it and took pleasure as a duty. The campaign, with its use of undressed men and women, was ruled by the

US 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 Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

to be "not

obscene An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

", although the court decision did call it "offensive". Other milestones in Hooker's career include photographing the twins Madeleine and Mary Collinson (the first twin Playmates on Playboy, for cover and centerfold of the October 1970 issue),

Marilyn Cole Marilyn Cole (born 7 May 1949) was ''Playboy'' magazine's January 1972 Playboy Playmate, Playmate of the Month. She was the magazine's first full-frontal nude centerfold. She also became 1973's Playmate of the Year, becoming the only Briton to h ...

(the first Playmate to pose for a full frontal nude centerfold and the first Briton to hold the title of

Playmate of the Year This is a list of models who were chosen as a Playboy Playmate of the Year for the American edition of ''Playboy'' magazine. List of Playmates of the Year *1953: Marilyn Monroe *1954: *1955: *1956: *1957: Lisa Winters *1958: *1959: *1960: ...

), Jayne Marie Mansfield (daughter of

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, ''Playboy'' Playmate, and sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. He ...

), Candy Loving (the 25th Anniversary Playmate), Monica Tidwell (the first Playmate to be younger than Playboy), Nancy Cameron (the 20th Anniversary Playmate and the only Playmate to have a back and front double-sided centerfold), Marilyn Lange (both her Playmate of the Month and Playmate of the Year layouts for May 1974 and June 1975 issues respectively) and Jill De Vries (the first Playmate with signed centerfold). He also photographed Playmate and

Playboy bunny A Playboy Bunny is a cocktail waitress who works at a Playboy Club and selected through standardized training. Their costumes were made up of lingerie, inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot. This costume consisted of a straples ...

Barbi Benton (actress and singer who was

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles. Hefner extended the ''Playboy ...

's girlfriend) and

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

and

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

award-winning actor

Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner and a three-time Tony Award nominee, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pier ...

. Hooker mentored other Playboy photographers including

Stephen Wayda Stephen Wayda (born December 12, 1946) is an American professional photographer, best known for his photography for ''Playboy'' magazine. Early life and education Wayda was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Southern California. After high sch ...

. He shot the cover for the first paperback edition of '' Playboy's Book of Forbidden Words'' (1974), with model Mercy Rooney. He is reported to have the record number of rejections for a Playboy photographer when

, the publisher, rejected 500 of Hooker's photographs for a centerfold.

Personal life

Hooker retired from ''Playboy'' to

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...

, Utah to work as an architect. He was a regular at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. Hooker died in Michigan on January 3, 2015, at the age of 86.

Playboy work

Playboy centerfolds

* Shay Knuth: September 1969 * Jennifer Liano: May 1970 *

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

and

Madeleine Collinson Madeleine Collinson (22 July 1952 – 14 August 2014) was a Maltese-British model and actress. She was chosen as ''Playboy'' magazine's Playboy Playmate, Playmate of the Month in October 1970, together with her twin sister Mary Collinson. They ...

: October 1970 *

Avis Miller __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Playboy Playmates of 1970. ''Playboy'' magazine names their Playboy Playmate, Playmate of the Month each month throughout the year. January Jill Taylor (born October 14, 1951, in Van Nuys, California) is an A ...

: November 1970 * Carol Imhof: December 1970 * Crystal Smith: September 1971 * Danielle de Vabre: November 1971 * Ellen Michaels: March 1972 * Deanna Baker: May 1972 * Lenna Sjööblom (also known as Lena Söderberg): November 1972 *

: June 1973 (Playmate of Year, with Richard Fegley, Larry Dale Gordon and Alexas Urba) * Monica Tidwell: November 1973 * Nancy Cameron: January 1974 * Marilyn Lange: May 1974 *

Jeane Manson Jeane Manson (born Jean Ann Manson on October 1, 1950) is an American model, singer, and actor, born in Cleveland, Ohio. Her first name was changed from "Jean" to "Jeane" because, as all of her career was in France after 1974, the French would h ...

: August 1974 * Marilyn Lange: June 1975 (Playmate of Year) * Lillian Müller: August 1975 * Jill De Vries: October 1975 *

Laura Lyons Laura Lyons (born October 22, 1954) is an American model. She was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playboy Playmate, Playmate of the Month for its February 1976 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Dwight Hooker and Mario Casilli. Sherlock Holmes fa ...

: February 1976 * Kathryn Morrison: May 1978 * Candy Loving: January 1979 * Louann Fernald: June 1979

Playboy covers

* Barbi Benton: July 1969 * Shay Knuth: September 1969 *

Jean Bell Jean Bell (born Annie Lee Morgan on November 23, 1944) is a former ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month, and one of the first African American women to feature in this role. She later had a career as an actress in movies, most prominently in '' TNT ...

, Lorrie Menconi, Kathy MacDonald, Shay Knuth, Leslie Bianchini: January 1970 (with Don Klumpp, Bill Figge, David Chan, Mario Casilli) * Jaime Lyn Bauer: February 1970 * Barbi Benton: March 1970 * Phyllis Babila: May 1970 *

and

: October 1970 * Crystal Smith: November 1970 *

and Madeleine Collinson, Jennifer Liano,

Debbie Ellison __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Playboy Playmates of 1970. ''Playboy'' magazine names their Playmate of the Month each month throughout the year. January Jill Taylor (born October 14, 1951, in Van Nuys, California) is an American model. Sh ...

, Sharon Clark: January 1971 (with

Pompeo Posar Pompeo Posar (; February 21, 1921 – April 5, 2004) was a ''Playboy'' magazine staff photographer who photographed many centerfold features and accompanying pictures of women featured as playmate of the month. Notably, he was responsible for th ...

, Bill Figge and Edward DeLong) * Christy Miller: August 1971 * Crystal Smith: September 1971 * Debbie Hanlon: November 1971 * Rosie Holotik: April 1972 * Crystal Smith: September 1972 * Mercy Rooney: March 1973 *

: June 1973 * Karen Christy: February 1974 * Ester Cordet,

Bebe Buell Beverle Lorence "Bebe" Buell ( ; born July 14, 1953) is an American singer and former model. She was ''Playboy'' magazine's November 1974 Playmate of the Month. Buell moved to New York in 1972 after signing a modeling contract with Eileen Ford, ...

, Marilyn Lange, Francine Parks, Nancy Cameron and Kristine Hanson: January 1975 (with Richard Fegley, Mario Casilli, David Chan) * Marilyn Lange: June 1975 * Jill De Vries: February 1976 * Lisa Sohm: April 1977

Playmate pictorials

* Shay Knuth: September 1969 * Jennifer Liano: May 1970 *

and Mary Collinson: October 1970 *

: November 1970 * Carol Imhof: December 1970 * Crystal Smith: September 1971 * Ellen Michaels: March 1972 * Lenna Sjööblom: November 1972 * Monica Tidwell: November 1973 (with Bill Frantz) * Nancy Cameron: January 1974 * Marilyn Lange: May 1974 *

: August 1974 * Lillian Müller: August 1975 (with

Suze Randall Suze Randall (born 18 May 1946) is an English model, photographer, and pornographer. After giving up modelling, she devoted her time to erotic photography and became the first woman to shoot Page 3 for ''The Sun'' newspaper. She was the first ...

) * Jill De Vries: October 1975 *

: February 1976 (with Mario Casilli) * Kathryn Morrison: May 1978 (with Phillip Dixon) * Candy Loving: January 1979 * Louann Fernald: June 1979

Books

Christina series

A book series on imaginary heiress Christina van Bell was written by "Blakely St. James", a pseudonym for multiple authors including Robin Leonard, Charles Platt, Ted Gottfried, William E Butterworth, and Hart Williams. Hooker provided the photographs used on the front and back covers. The model for all the books is Jill De Vries. *''Christina's Quest'', Playboy Press, 1976, *''Christina's Desire'', Playboy Press, 1978 *''Christina's Rapture'', Playboy Press, 1978 *''Christina's Ecstasy'', Playboy Paperbacks, 1980, *''Christina's Sins'', Playboy Press, 1980, *''Christina Enchanted'', 1980 *''Christina's Promise'', 1980 *''A Kiss for Christina'', Playboy Press, 1981 *''Christina's Escape'', Playboy Paperbacks, 1981, *''Christina's Obsession'', Playboy Paperbacks, 1981, *''Christina in Love'', Playboy Paperbacks, 1981, *''Christina's Bliss'', Playboy Paperbacks, 1981 *''Christina's Hunger'', 1981 *''Christina's Delight'', 1982 *''Christina's Awakening'', 1983 *''Christina's Favorite'', 1983 *''Christina's Paradise'', 1983 *''Christina's Confessions'', 1983

Other books

*''The Playboy Photographer 2'', Playboy Press, 1975 *''Sexy Ladies'', Playboy Press, 1977 (with

Jeanloup Sieff Jeanloup Sieff (November 30, 1933 – September 20, 2000) was a French photographer. He was born in Paris to Polish parents. He was a photography student of Gertrude Fehr. He is famous for his portraits of politicians, famous artists, landscapes, ...

, Sam Notabartolo, and others)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooker, Dwight 1928 births 2015 deaths Playboy photographers