Dwight Hooker


Dwight Hooker 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 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 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, Marilyn Cole, Jayne Marie Mansfield, Candy Loving, Monica Tidwell, Nancy Cameron, Marilyn Lange and Jill De Vries. He also photographed Playmate and Playboy bunny Barbi Benton 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, 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 : November 1972
  • Marilyn Cole: June 1973
  • Monica Tidwell: November 1973
  • Nancy Cameron: January 1974
  • Marilyn Lange: May 1974
  • Jeane Manson: August 1974
  • Marilyn Lange: June 1975
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Nancy Cameron: January 1974
  • Marilyn Lange: May 1974
  • Jeane Manson: August 1974
  • 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

    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