"Sex" in an aluminum cover: a photo book that made Madonna the embodiment of sin

Today, August 16, marks the birthday of one of the most legendary and scandalous singers of our time – Madonna. She turns 63 years old, of which the ageless singer spent almost 40 at the forefront of world pop culture. In honor of this date, we offer you to "look through" the legendary Sex photo book with a depraved pop queen as the main character.

There are such publications that many would like to buy, but there are no new editions, and no one will agree to sell existing copies for any price. One of these folios is a book-photo album called Sex. 128 pages of Madonna's sexual fantasies in the image of Mrs. Dita. The book, released on October 21, 1992, shortly before the release of the Erotica album, was a resounding commercial success and topped The New York Times bestseller list. Despite the fact that even some Madonna fans were indignant. The photos revealed the themes of same-sex love and sadomasochism too openly. However, nothing else can be expected from the infamous photographer Steven Meisel (Steven Meisel).

Caution! The material presented in the collection is intended for people over the age of 18.

In addition to Madonna, supermodel Naomi Campbell, gay porn star Joey Stefano, actor Udo Kir, rappers Big Daddy Kane and Vanilla Ice posed for Maisel. But the central character was, of course, the singer. After the book was published, journalists put an end to her career, calling Madonna a sex maniac and the embodiment of sin. 

The pop diva countered the attacks as follows: "The task of my work is to teach people not to be ashamed of themselves, their bodies, their appearance, their desires and sexual fantasies. It is fear that is the cause of bigotry, sexism, racism, and homophobia."

The text in the book is assigned a secondary role. But it is not reduced to captions under photos, but has a completely independent semantic load. The narration consists of several independent parts, and as a preface, a verse from the song Erotica was used, which ends with the following phrase:" I'll teach you how to fuck "("I'll teach you how to fuck").

The design of the book is great. The plastic bag in which the publication was packed resembled a condom package. The cover is an aluminum panel with an engraved name and an individual number on the back. The text is printed in various fancy fonts, and some pages imitate manuscripts.

Lucy O'Brien wrote in her book about Madonna: "With the book" Sex", Madonna presented the reverse side of the Hollywood dream. How many people who wanted to become movie stars came to Los Angeles for fame and ended up shooting in peripheral porn films." 

Donald Trump also spoke about the book at the time, broadcasting on a talk show. He was disappointed by the naked body of the Madonna: "Not really. I don't think it will surprise you. If Madonna were in this room, she would be the least attractive woman here."