Is the 1950s TMZ JFK Photo Shocker Genuine? If True, is it a Genuine Shock?

The alleged 1950s JFK photo has it all: nude women, skinny dipping, and the man who would be president: John F. Kennedy. The TMZ JFK pic also features troubling shadowing, strategically placed crumbles and a somewhat odd paparazzo vantage point.

JFK Photo A Blast from the Past?

The supposed JFK photo - nude women, a sunbathing John F. Kennedy and all - looks genuine. The publisher of this supposedly genuine article, TMZ, reports that it took due diligence and had the picture authenticated by a forensic analyst and two biographers intimately familiar with the dead president.

Yet to the untrained eye there is some doubt, especially since the head seems to have odd shadowing and appears to be of a much older JFK. Moreover, the photographer's position for taking the snapshot appears to be somewhat precarious. Photo specialists are sure to continue scrutinizing this John F. Kennedy picture for quite a bit of time to come.

If Genuine, Was JFK Ahead of His Time?

In the 1950s, this JFK photo could have wreaked havoc with the then-candidate's chances of winning the presidency. Fast forwarding to modern times, it appears that - if authentic - the president was merely ahead of his times and the decline of social mores.

In the 21^st century, it is actually the politicians who are shedding their clothes. Take for example the Belgian protest party "NEE" that ran naked photos of its front woman Tania Derveaux. In 2001, New Zealand's 18-year young Paula Gillon became known as the "naked politician," when she posed for campaign posters in blue tulle and little else. As reported by the NZ Herald, the gamble paid off and she won the city council election.

On the Flipside, Would the JFK Photo Have Elicited a Silvio Berlusconi-esque Response?

In the alternative, the racy JFK photo might have elicited more of a response in keeping with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's reaction to 2009 photos that showed unclad females (and a male) making merry at his villa. In this instance, there is the very real and bothersome aspect of censorship, as the Italian prime minister forbade the publication of these photos in Italy.

The odds are good that the damning JFK photo - naked women and all - would have been hushed up in 1950s America. If it was genuine...

Sources
http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o28/newsdesk/tmz_documents/1227_jfk_TMZ_hires_01.pdf
http://www.tmz.com/2009/12/28/president-john-f-kennedy-photograph-jfk-photo-boat-yatch-nude-naked-women-mediterranean-sea-jackie-kennedy-ted-kennedy-senator-george-smathers-election/
http://www.nee-antwerpen.be/
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/local-vote-2001/news/article.cfm?c_id=761&objectid=222805
http://www.paulagillon.co.nz/about.php
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1191031/Berlusconis-fury-photographs-topless-women-cavorting-villa-published.html