Dwight Hooker

Dwight Hooker (June 22, 1928 – January 3, 2015) was an American photographer and architect. He was best known as a photographer for Playboy magazine and has been described as one of the masters of "the sensual and the erotic", along with photographers Helmut Newton and J. Frederick Smith. One of his photographs became the basis of Lenna, the standard test image for image processing algorithms (such as compression and denoising) 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 Lenna, 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 to be "not obscene", 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 (the first Playmate to pose for a full frontal nude centerfold and the first Briton to hold the title of Playmate of the Year), Jayne Marie Mansfield (daughter of Jayne Mansfield), 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 Barbi Benton (actress and singer who was Hugh Hefner's girlfriend) and Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor Alan Alda.
Hooker mentored other Playboy photographers including Stephen Wayda. 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 Hugh Hefner, the publisher, rejected 500 of Hooker's photographs for a centerfold.
Personal life
Hooker retired from Playboy to Sundance, Utah to work as an architect. He was a regular at the Sundance Film Festival.
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 and Madeleine Collinson: October 1970
Avis Miller: 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
Marilyn Cole: 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: August 1974
Marilyn Lange: June 1975 (Playmate of Year)
Lillian Müller: August 1975
Jill De Vries: October 1975
Laura Lyons: 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, 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
Mary and Madeleine Collinson: October 1970
Crystal Smith: November 1970
Mary and Madeleine Collinson, Jennifer Liano, Debbie Ellison, Sharon Clark: January 1971 (with Pompeo Posar, 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
Marilyn Cole: June 1973
Karen Christy: February 1974
Ester Cordet, Bebe Buell, 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
Madeleine Collinson and Mary Collinson: October 1970
Avis Miller: 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
Jeane Manson: August 1974
Lillian Müller: August 1975 (with Suze Randall)
Jill De Vries: October 1975
Laura Lyons: 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 Helmut Newton, Jeanloup Sieff, Sam Notabartolo, and others)
References
External links
1928 births
2015 deaths
Playboy photographers