Dave Martin is one of my favorite photographers from the golden era of physique work for a lot of reasons. One of those is that he not only identified more of his models than most of his peers, but he also identified their sports and other interests, mostly on hand written cards. The first half of today's Dave Martin double features shows some of his unidentified models, most of which are also thematic twofers. This young man perched on an end table should tick some boxes in the bush department. Mr. Martin is shown in the inset which was added by an unknown past collector.
If Dave Martin had put down "Mormon Elder" as his profession on his passport, he'd have got straight through customs - which only goes to show that one should never trust first impressions...
ReplyDeleteLOL! Yes, that would have worked for him.
DeleteWhat year did Dave Martin stop taking these Physique Photos? Did Martin ever say why he stopped?
DeleteI don't know why Dave Martin apparently stopped doing male nudes around 1970, but at least two others were said to have quit because of the flood of cheaply produced and crass work that hit the markets after the judicial liberalization of the late 60s.
DeleteThat makes a lot of sense and seems likely to have been the reason. I got the feeling from the note he left the Stanford University Curator with his collection of Photos that Dave Martin did not approve of the Gay Rights/Liberation movement. What was known about Dave Martin and his personal life? His religion? His sexuality? Did he ever comment on Gays being legally allowed to Marry?
DeleteI can't cite references at the moment, but I have also read that Mr. Martin was not friendly to the gay rights movement. I have come to conclude that he may have been in denial about his own sexuality, and he made a point of declaring his collection to be photos of heterosexual men and "not a gay archive."
DeleteWas Dave Martin a Mormon? He photographed quite a few Mormons and I always wondered if he was a Mormon also?
DeleteHe had friends. One wrote about Martin revealing that GLEN WOLF admitted to Martin that he was failing at San Jose State and was thinking about dropping out. Martin gave his friend a few more Photos of GLEN in the 1990s at his request. It made me wonder what happened to GLEN and if he even is alive today. Another friend wrote that Martin had to live in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco after being evicted by Condos. Martin took such beautiful Photos I hope in the end the ME allowed his friends to claim his body if no relatives were left to do so.!!
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