Guglielmo Plüschow born 18 August 1852 (d. 1930)Guglielmo Plüschow, born Wilhelm Plüschow was a German photographer who moved to Italy and became known for his nude photos of local youths, predominantly males (but also young and rather androgynous looking girls).
Plüschow was the cousin of Wilhelm von Gloeden, who, despite taking up nude photography later than Plüschow, soon overshadowed him. Plüschow was several times at odds with the law and charged with corruption of minors. Today, his photography is recognised for its artistic merits, even though it is generally considered somewhat inferior to von Gloeden's on account of his less graceful handling of lighting and the sometimes strangely stilted poses of his models. His photographs are more erotic and less 'artistic' than von Gloeden's.Not much is known about Plüschow's early life, except that he was born in Wismar as the eldest of seven brothers and sisters. His father Friedrich Carl Eduard Plüschow was an illegitimate child of Friedrich Ludwig von Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the family home was Schloss Plüschow.
In the early 1870s, he moved to Rome and changed his first name from 'Wilhelm' to its Italian equivalent 'Guglielmo'. Initially making a living as a wine merchant, he soon turned to male and female nude photography. Later he also worked in Naples, among others doing contract work like taking pictures of Nino Cesarini, the young lover of Baron Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen at the latter's house Villa Lysis on Capri.In 1902, Plüschow was charged with 'common procuration' and 'seduction of minors' and had to spend eight months in jail. Another scandal followed in 1907: Plüschow was arrested for his portrayal of a nude minor twelve-year old boy, after which he 'converted' to photographing landscapes. He never stopped producing the erotic images, but learned to be discreet. In 1910 Plüschow left Italy for good and returned to Berlin.