Carlo Mollino, "Polaroids"

Mollino (1905–1973) was an Italian architect and designer whose portfolio included furniture, interiors and even racing cars, all done in a style that might be described as midcentury baroque. He was also something of a photographer and apparently his favorite subjects were suggestively posed, often seminaked female models, in images that combined high-fashion aesthetics with soft-core erotic conventions. The Polaroids here—shot in Mollino's hillside villa overlooking Turin between 1962 and 1973—are excellent examples.