The Big Butt Book is the fourth installment of The Big Book Series, edited by Dian Hanson, and is dedicated to the portrayal of the female backside in the history of photography and visual culture. The volume addresses a fascination present in different eras and cultures, from classical Antiquity to the present day, and examines how this part of the body has been interpreted both from an aesthetic and symbolic viewpoint.
Through more than 400 photographs dated between 1900 and today, the book traces the evolution of these portrayals, from more restrained shapes to fuller volumes, placing them in their historical, social, and artistic context. The work highlights how the interest in the female buttocks has crossed cultural movements, fashions, and visual currents, far from being an exclusively contemporary phenomenon.
The volume includes works by photographers and artists such as Elmer Batters, Ellen von Unwerth, Jean-Paul Goude, Ralph Gibson, Richard Kern, Jan Saudek, Ed Fox, Terry Richardson, and Sante D’Orazio, as well as interviews and testimonies from notable figures in the artistic, cinematic, and publishing fields. The result is a broad visual compendium that establishes The Big Butt Book as a key work within the series and Taschen’s catalogue.
About the editor
Dian Hanson worked in editing and specialized press between 1976 and 2001, linked to various illustrated publications. Later she joined TASCHEN as editor of the Sexy Books collection. Among her works for the publisher are The Big Book Series, The Art of Pin-up, Masterpieces of Fantasy Art, and Ren Hang.
