Leaping Lizards for Leap Year

Yes, friends, it's Leap Year, and I couldn't let the special day pass without some Leaping Lizards.

We start with my personal favorite which probably isn't even vintage, but hey, it's Leap Year.

We've arrived on Bob Mizer's roof for our second leaping lizard.
Edited to add:  James IV tells us in the comments that this is John Apache from 1974.

"I dare  you guys to jump over the bonfire."

This guy is making bouncy-bouncy on a diving board.

Mr. Scumbeast called this one "Reaching for the Sky."

British Beef Day, Part 2 - Academic Nude Art

Our Friday art series features British artists' academic work, 

beginning with this drawing by Alfred Priest.

Most academic art pieces were drawing in either pencil, ink, or charcoal, but some were done as color paintings.  This 1880 work by Thomas Wilson is the first of two examples in today's series.

I have featured the work of Harold Knight on the blog before,

 but somehow missed this excellent drawing.

This came to me labeled "unknown English artist."

If he could consistently paint that well, he didn't deserve to be unknown.

Sir Charles Holroyd did this drawing, date unknown.

British Beef Day, Part 1 - Nude Photos

It's British Beef Day on the blog, and you can celebrate by ordering these lovely

boxer brief underpants at your friendly on-line underwear vendor . . . British, of course.

I'm really disappointed that they don't have a photo of a model wearing them, though.

Vic Haywood posed for this studio photo for John Barrington who showed his 

usual slapdash technical quality.  Actually, this is better than a lot of his work.

And for those of  you who like mass nudity, we have this photo of British World War I 

troops having  a swim on the coast of France.  This picture was generously provided 

by my fellow Hawaii resident Larry.  From the Imperial War Museum Collection.

I've never figured out why this coal stoker on a British Navy ship stood on a barrel for his shower.

Was he too short to reach the control knobs?

John Graham of London took this photo of Tom Knott (left) and an unknown model.

Graham does not get enough credit for his work, and I wish I had more of it.

A beefy Scottish miner in the shower finishes our photo series for British Beef Day.

Models

Today I am posting some photos of life models in interesting settings.

These two did a whole series of photos posing on a platform

 in a studio and hamming it up with the artists' tools.

I don't know why or how the crazy angle in this photo was accomplished,

but it does provide an interesting perspective.

I posted a different pose of this older model about a year ago 

and then found this one which was apparently taken at the same time.

Although this image isn't the clearest,

the lighting does produce an artistic effect.

Here we see a model with the unfinished art piece in the background.

Bob Delmonteque Day, Part 2 - Semi-nudes by Unknown Photographers

As with the nude half of our Bob Delmonteque double feature, the photographers in our semi-nude section are officially unknown . . . to me, anyway.  Bob's age and the style of this one makes me think of Douglas of Detroit, the man who took more photos of him than anyone else.

At some point in the 1950's, Bob Delmonteque left the Detroit area and moved to California.  We see him here with Frankie Russell, a model he photographed himself.  I don't know if this was done by Bob himself with a timer or by someone else.

Bob Delmonteque's status as a top bodybuilder resulted in his appearance on a number of "legitimate" magazine covers.  This is my personal favorite, and it's a rare color shot from his heyday.

The setting for this autographed photo of Bob Delmonteque reminds me 

of Don Whitman's work at Western Photography Guild.  Bob does not, however, 

appear anywhere in Mr. Whitman's well preserved and curated body of work.

Despite finding this listed as Bob Delmonteque on a reputable print resale site,

I had to look long and hard before I finally agreed.

Bob Delmonteque Day, Part 1 - Outdoor Nudes by Unknown Photographers

Bob Delmonteque was not a championship level bodybuilder, exceptional nude model, and eventually a well regarded photographer.  He got his start in Detroit with the ill fated great photographer Doug Juleff, aka Douglas of Detroit.  This will be the second double feature on this blog devoted to this remarkable man.  All of today's photos are by photographers unknown to me.  I do, however, suspect that some of them were either by Doug Juleff or Bob himself.

We start with a nice photo of Mr. Delmonteque leaning on a  scrubby pine tree.

As I was editing my Bob Delmonteque files for this series, I first passed on this photo because the thumbnail seemed like a studio shot.  A closer examination showed it to be taken against the sky, however, and I couldn't resist the beautiful way the natural light shows off his body.

This beach looks like the Lake Michigan shore not too far from Detroit.

That makes me think Doug Juleff took it, but I have no documentation.

Bob Delmonteque is splendid in this summer photo in some woods.

His hair looks like some work was put into it, fwiw.

This photo of Bob Delmonteque in a park looks like it was taken in early spring.  

Hopefully it was a relatively warm day.

Early 20th C. Strong Men

I recently posted a photo of this model with his pants part way down, 

and the ensuing discussion caused me to do a little research.  

I found this photo of him, and that provoked today's Early 20th C. Strong Man theme.

I freely accept the possibility that this photo of Pospeschil might have been photoshopped, but it could go either way.  My first thought was that he did a fig leaf photo that somebody reworked a hundred years later, but I have a huge collection of fig leaf images from this era, and this one isn't in there.  (I do have lots of other shots of this incredible man, just not this one with a leaf.)  Also, he appears to be circumcised here, but that isn't definitive proof for a number of possible reasons.

My source cryptically labeled this "Martin, 6."

I don't know if Martin was the model or the photographer,

and I'd love to see the other five.

This unidentified model did a series of flexing photos that appear 

to have been designed as instructional aids or examples to aspire toward.  

Presumably they would have been cropped if they were ever published

Although I don't have documentation, I think this is from the physical culture photo series made by Professor Desbonnet in early 20th C. Paris.  Edited to add:  This is Ernest Cadine.  See comments.

Pat Milo Sailors

Jim Bond appeared in my last Pat Milo sailor series, and I had more than one request for more photos of him.  So I'm kicking off another Milo sailor day with this one.

At first glance, the little furniture piece looked like one used by Bob Mizer of AMG.

On closer examination, however, it wasn't.  This is Roger Conte by Pat Milo.

Mike White is rather well lighted in this Milo shot.

Pat Milo photographed Chuck Hall with his sailor cap, 

a cigarette, and a cheesy girlie magazine.

That looks like one of George Quaintance's Indian blankets,

but my source says this is by Milo.

Carl Mydans Double Feature, Part 2 - More Men

The non-nude portion of Carl Mydans day kicks off with two young men who were photographed early in Mydans' career when he worked for the government.  As Civilian Conservation Corps workers, they built parks, land reclamation projects, and trails through National Parks.

Note to history buffs:  I have gone back and retagged some previously posted Mydans works,

so if your interested in seeing them all, just click on the "Carl Mydans" tag below this image.

Edwin Kahn was a player for the Washington Redskins who posed for this impressive Mydans picture.  Sadly, he died of wounds in the Philippines in 1945.  Ironically, Mydans was there at the time covering the return of General MacArthur to what was then an American territory.

I believe this relatively rare Mydans color photograph was made when he accompanied then Vice President Richard Nixon on his famous trip to the Soviet Union.

Mydans photographed this Japanese farmer who attended a rural cooperative meeting.

Despite having been imprisoned for two years by the Japanese during WWII, Mydans willingly took an postwar assignment there and bore no ill will toward them.  I find the farmer quite handsome.

These are U.S. Navy men in a World War II communications and mapping center.

Carl Mydans Double Feature, Part 1 - Male Nudes

I don't know that I've ever done a full double feature on a 20th Century photojournalist, but Carl Mydans (1907-2004) had an exceptional and exciting career.  After working for the Farm Security Administration for several years documenting the Depression era, he was one of the first photographers to go to work full time for LIFE in 1936.  His assignments over the next 50 years took him to Finland, France, the Philippines, Japan, China, Korea, Russia, and many other places.

Note of thanks:  Most, if not all, of today's nudes were generously provided by Larry from Hawaii.

Henry Armstrong was a successful boxer in the 1930's when Mydans went to work for LIFE.

This locker room photo shows Armstrong being toweled off with a lot of observers.

The Washington Redskins football team allowed Carl Mydans into their locker room in 1938.

It looks quite primitive compared to modern facilities, but was normal for the time.

These GIs under a field shower were photographed in August of 1950 by Mydans during the Korean War.  The war was going badly for the UN at the time, and these men were lucky to get a break.