Whenever I see pinup image I think of playboy magazine or the retro look from the forties....
Is there a new approach to this style of photography?

Many try to replicate the feel of the works of Elvgrin, Varga and the other masters of the pin-up heyday, with most failing to get past a scantily dressed woman in front of their lens.  A pin-up was exciting without blatant sexual acts or even any nudity at all in most instances.  The women of the era were confident and oozed a classy desirability.  Pin-ups went into a metamorphosis of sorts in the 1950s and were relegated more towards men's only magazines that we're hidden from the eyes of the young and polite society.  Some great images were captured in the Sixties of women in similar situations and were probably the closest to the originals.  Many of the early Playboy images were similar in feel to the paintings and drawings of the original artists who flounced the movement.  Like their predecessors, they found their way into the lockers and onto the walls of barracks all over the world, keeping up the moral of GIs in times of war. 

Keep in mind that at the time the masters were creating their works, photographing a woman in her "unmentionables" or less was considered porn and many photographers were arrested for doing so, citing a violation of public morality statutes as the charge.  Yes, a lot of vintage porn still exists but that's nothing in comparison to what's within a key stroke's availability today.  There's a great book documenting Elvgrin's with that shows the models dressed in normal clothes using ironing boards in lieu of sliding boards and the like to simulate the acts that Elvgrin turned into works depicting women in often innocent, yet sensual situations.  Those images could be found on matchbooks, the backs of men's silk ties and on the front sections of aircraft, bringing to the vernacular the term nose art.  It wasn't until people became too sensitive towards the end of World War II that the bomber girls had to come off, regardless of how they were attired or what the theme of the art depicted.

Pin ups are a great studio project when the weather prevents most from getting outside and one that can be great fun for everyone involved.  Emulating the works of the great pioneers of the genre can be challenging and very fulfilling for photographer, model and MUA alike.

Over the past 30+ years that I've been modelling, I couldn't begin to count the number of times that a photographer or artist showed me reference photos of work by people like Elvgren because they wanted to do something in a similar style. Going back even further, they would use artwork by people like Egon Schiele, or photos taken in the 1900-1960 time frame. There is a very definite influence from the past on many current artists, photographers, and models.

Playboy inspired me to photograph Playboy models.
I have photographed 2 American and 2 European Playboy models so far.

I shoot a fair amount of pin up. And I have been published a number of times in pin up magazines. 

I don't shoot pin ups based on what illustrators have done in the past. I do however emulate pin up photography like the photographic work of Bettie Paige or the photographic pin up work of Bunny Yeager.

I do think Playboy was an excellent source for Pin Up in the 50s, 60s and the early part of the 70s. After that Playboy just became another porn magazine (all be it with good writing and interesting interviews.). Nothing Pin Up about. The Nuevo Pin Up of Suicide Girls sucked and looked nothing like a Pin Up. I think no has created a new style of pin up except perhaps Robert Alvarado who created wonderful modern  Pin Up books that are on sale at many bookstores. And I believe he is also a member of MM.

But for me I like the vintage look.