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

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

'' 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 Lenna (or Lena) is a standard test image used in the field of image processing since 1973. It is a picture of the Swedish model Lena Forsén, shot by photographer Dwight Hooker, cropped from the centerfold of the November 1972 issue of ''Playbo ...

'', the standard test image for image processing

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...

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 un ...

) 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 U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

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 ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be us ...

", 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) is ''Playboy'' magazine's January 1972 Playmate of the Month. She was the magazine's first full-frontal nude centerfold. She also became 1973's Playmate of the Year – the only Briton to hold that title. Her orig ...

(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: *1958: *1959: *1960: Ellen Stratton ...

), Jayne Marie Mansfield (daughter of

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...

Candy Loving Candy Loving (born Candis Loving; September 4, 1956) is an American model. She was '' Playboy's'' Playmate of the Month for the January 1979 issue, which made her the magazine's 25th Anniversary Playmate. Her centerfold was photographed by Dwight ...

(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 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 strapless corset te ...

Barbi Benton Barbi Benton (born Barbara Lynn Klein; January 28, 1950) is an American retired model, actress, television personality, and singer. She is known for appearing in ''Playboy'' magazine, as a four-season regular on the comedy series ''Hee Haw'', an ...

(actress and singer who was Hugh Hefner's girlfriend) and Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor

Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war come ...

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

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 Deanna or DeAnna is a feminine given name. People with the given name * DeAnna Bennett (born 1984), American mixed martial artist * Deanna Bogart (born 1959), American blues singer, pianist, and saxophone player * Deanna Brooks (born 1974), Americ ...

: 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 Lillian Müller (born 19 August 1951) is a Norwegian model and an actress in motion pictures and television. She was born in Grimstad, Norway. Career A " Page Three Girl" five times, her first appearance was in January 1974. Müller achieved h ...

: August 1975 * Jill De Vries: October 1975 * Laura Lyons: February 1976 * Kathryn Morrison: May 1978 *

: January 1979 * Louann Fernald: June 1979

Playboy covers

: 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 J ...

, Lorrie Menconi, Kathy MacDonald, Shay Knuth, Leslie Bianchini: January 1970 (with Don Klumpp, Bill Figge, David Chan,

Mario Casilli Mario Anthony Casilli (January 22, 1931 – April 25, 2002) was an American photographer. Among other photos, he worked for Playboy magazine between 1957 and 1996 and his first photoshoot there was of Jacquelyn Prescott, as Playmate of the Month ...

) * Jaime Lyn Bauer: February 1970 *

: March 1970 * Phyllis Babila: May 1970 *

and Madeleine Collinson: October 1970 * Crystal Smith: November 1970 *

and Madeleine Collinson, Jennifer Liano, Debbie Ellison, 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 Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

: February 1974 *

Ester Cordet In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides are fa ...

, Bebe Buell, Marilyn Lange,

Francine Parks :''This is a disambiguation page for the common name Francine.'' Francine is a female given name. The name is of France, French origin. The name Francine was most popular in France itself during the 1940s (Besnard & Desplanques 2003), and was well ...

, Nancy Cameron and

Kristine Hanson Kristine Hanson (born September 23, 1951, in Illinois) is an American television broadcaster who also was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for the September 1974 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by David Chan. She was previous ...

: January 1975 (with Richard Fegley,

, 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 *

: August 1974 *

: August 1975 (with Suze Randall) * Jill De Vries: October 1975 * Laura Lyons: February 1976 (with

) * Kathryn Morrison: May 1978 (with Phillip Dixon) *

: 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

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