Pompeo Posar was the dean of Playboy Photographers, with 65 published Playmate Centerfolds and 40 Playboy covers to his credit. He traveled the world for the magazine, shooting celebrities, fashion, food, cars and, most of all, beautiful women. Thousands of beautiful women. He loved them, and they loved him. His greatest talent wasn't his technical expertise with cameras and lights. It was his charm.
Posar was born in the Adriatic port city of Trieste, on the border of Yugoslavia and Italy. In early 1960 he took his camera to a local television station in Chicago to photograph a show about folk dancing. Hugh Hefner and the original Playboy's Penthouse TV show were being filmed on an adjacent stage. Posar used the opportunity to take photos of Hefner and his guests and eventually sent the pictures to Hef. Soon Posar was working as a staff photographer for the magazine, and he quickly emerged as Playboy's number one photographer of women.
Now he is gone. We'll carry on with the job of photographing beautiful women, but Pompeo Posar will not be replaced. He was one of a kind and truly the prince of Playboy photography.
See more of Pompeo Posar's work at cyber.playboy.com.
