George Platt Lynes and Magic Realism, Part 2

Lynes also used Magic Realism in his non-nude work.

This 1937 photo of an unknown model is an excellent example.

Jared French (in hat) and his lover Paul Cadmus were friends of Lynes who also posed for him on a number of occasion.  He returned the favor and is in several of their PaJaMa photographs.

I think some peroxide was involved in this George Platt Lynes photo of Charles ‘Tex’ Smutney 

and Charles ‘Buddy’ Stanley from 1941.  There is a whole series of these very blonde guys, 

and at least one of them is a brunette in other Lynes work.

This 1949 picture of William Christopher is perhaps the most conventional of either of today's series, but even so, there is still a slight surrealistic element to the tattered drop cloth.

This solo image of Paul Cadmus is almost disconcerting in its spatial orientation.

At some point one has to stop wondering which way is "up" and just enjoy it.

Is he helping the other guy out of his T-shirt, or is that a band of cloth symbolic of some deeper bond or confinement or something else entirely?  George Platt Lynes, like his friends Jared French and Paul Cadmus practiced the Magic Realism genre of art in which a realistic or natural (and often simple) narrative is combined with surrealistic elements making them more complex.

Edited to add:  This is not by Lynes.  See the comment by lovernotafighter55 below for details.

I'm leaving it up just to show how much Lynes influenced later artists and how easily I can be fooled.

George Platt Lynes and Magic Realism

Today I'm posting a George Platt Lynes double feature with an emphasis on Magic Realism.  

(More about that later.)  So symbolism and dreamlike elements will be plentiful.  

In contrast to most of my Lynes collection, I do not have models' names on any of today's nudes.  

Any help with that would be much appreciated.  We start with a man on a plank.

I think the concealment of the models face in this photo is an artistic device rather than an attempt to hide his identity.  No one expected these photos to ever be exhibited, least of all Lynes.

Most of today's Lynes photos feature models who are sleeping.

This is one of the more physically explicit.

Lynes captured this unknown model in a pose and setting that show a perfect balance of light, shadow, and reflection.  I feel like I'm invited to join the model's dreaming.

And never forget that this could not be publicly exhibited during the artist's lifetime.

Mystery Bush Trios

Today we look at some trios in which all three members are heavy in the bush department.

All of them are unidentified as to models and photographers, although I have a couple of hunches.

Although I have no reason to think they are anything else, this trio seems 

more mature than the usual 1970 era models we see in such material.

Edited to add:  I should have called this Wyngate and Bevins Day as this is yet another photo from one of their publications.  See comment below.

Going horizontal in this photo that I snatched off of tumblr shortly before they banned nudity.

Edited to add:  More Wyngate and Bevins according to jsstrand's comment.  Thanks!

This is probably from one of those 1968-ish Wyngate & Bevins "nudist" magazines.

I seem to recall the background setting and at least one of the bushy models

 in this trio as AMG.  But I could be wrong.  I've been wrong before.

Nudist Cookouts

For Monday we look at some nudists doing outdoor food prep.

Most cookouts start with somebody trying to fire up the charcoal, and here he is.

Watermelon is always popular at a cookout, nudist or otherwise.

I think Mr. Chef's hat says,  "Come and get it!"

At first glance, I thought this was a cookout, but they seem to be packing oranges.

Last year I posted a color version of this photograph that looks identical in every way except it was slightly cropped and the bandaid on his arm was missing.  Airbrush?