intro

A Derri is a candid snap-shot of someone’s posterior, i.e., bum, fanny (not so much in the UK), rear-end, or as the French say with grand debonair, derrière.

These images are typically taken by another person. The truth is that unless one has usually long arms, a self-derri can be hard to manage. Sometimes these visual renderings are stolen, captured without the subject’s knowledge, for posterity or for more self-indulgent ends.

So, why bother with the derri? Well, simply because, even the finest French artisans would be hard pressed to match the beauty of the human heinie in its finest form.

Throughout history the medium of these often surreptitious views has varied from charcoal etchings to cell phone snaps, but (or rather butt) the premise has remained the same. Presented here is a brief history of this often daring enterprise, the Derri.

prehistoric rumpus

Cavemen had to be quick to survive and even quicker to meld burnt wood and mashed berries on their den wall to illustrate the hinder parts of a passing female or the odd mastodon. Sometimes the former drawing quickly become the latter when the misses poked in to see what furtive artistry was underway.

stone age assets

Fast forward a few ice ages to the master masons of ancient Egypt. Glorifying the sun of Ra in chiseled granite, these accomplished sculptors also fit in the occasional moon of Isis into their craft.

dark age rambunctiousness

The dark ages were dark and not much fun. The Derri no doubt endured abet in carefully closeted parchments featuring subtitle visages of well-formed fundaments tarrying from beneath five-layer tunics.

renaissance to the romantic era

This golden age brought the rebirth of science and culture, and along with it the camera obscura, quill pen, and printing press, opening new possibilities in viewing, illustrating, and reproducing tenacious tushes. The innovations of this time sped the dissemination of new ideas and facsimiles of said images to the masses.

(crack of) dawn of photography

Before the invention of photography and the albumen print, stealing a lasting visage of a fair maiden’s or fellow’s tuchus was indeed a daring endeavor. Thankfully, in the 1820s, Nicéphore Niépce succeeded in producing the first permanent photographic image. Of course, the imprinting took several hours of exposure by which time the subject Mademoiselle Sweet Cheeks (and her namesake) had long left the scene, leaving an empty alleyway on the photographic plate.

Leave it to the French again to invent the first spy camera in 1861, less than one square inch in size. Disguised cameras in the form of books, neckties, hats, pistols, and anything else you can imagine soon followed, paving the way for more clandestine back-view photography (though one would think that pointing a firearm at someone’s behind would be far more conspicuous than pointing a camera).

the bootylicious 20^th century

At the turn of the 20^th century, George Eastman and his Kodak company brought affordable photography to the masses with the introduction of the Brownie box camera. The world was urged to find a "Kodak moment", be it a monochromatic imprint of a blue sky or a brown eye. Smaller redesign is never far behind and with the diminutive gadgetry of the KGB and CIA taking covert photography to a new level, the cold war led to some hot prints.

present (with past behind)

The new millennium has brought yoga pants and cell phone photography, revolutionizing the potential of the Derri. The field of view has leveled with both sexes controlling the shutter. Masculine or feminine, the arena for the proliferation of these vernacular expressions has been redefined by this digital era. Then again, there can never be enough, duff. Watch out there, Kate!