Epstein Forums

Amid the cascading horrors of the Epstein files, we should not overlook several photographs of female bodies with lines from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel “Lolita” written on their flesh.

There are no faces in these photos, just anonymous flesh bearing excerpts from the famous opening passage, in which the protagonist, Humbert Humbert — a grown man who molests his young stepdaughter for years — muses with delectation on the girl’s various nicknames. (He prefers these to her real first name, Dolores, which means “pain” or “sorrow.” )

The disturbing photos remind us of Jeffrey Epstein’s pedophilic tendencies, of course, but they also communicate more than that. They rely on motifs that are entirely familiar — motifs underlying much of fashion and beauty culture. Like the legend at the bottom of a map, they provide a key to grasping vast swaths of a ghastly world.

In one of the photos, a young female throat and upper chest (with a hint of chin and mouth visible) bear the inscription “Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth.” Another photo shows an expanse of waist and lower hip (pants pushed down), with the phrase: “She was Lola in slacks.” Scrolling down an exposed spine, we read, “She was Dolly at school.” A fourth photo shows a bare, extended lower leg and (pedicured) foot reading: “She was Lo, plain Lo in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock.” In the background of that photo, we see a well-worn copy of the novel.