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Wednesday, September 9, 2020

New Feature Coming Soon - Contributors Welcome!

Whatever happened to . . .

We've had several interesting exchanges in the comments recently about physique era models and what else they did with their lives both during and following their time in front of the camera.  My fellow Hawaii resident and contributor BozB sort of kicked the concept into gear with his guest series this June on Jim Conrad, aka Rex Ravelle.  

Some of these men faded into obscurity, some had movie careers, some became photographers or artists themselves, some were fitness gurus, and some even lived lives of crime.  So I've decided to start running an occasional series based on this often interesting subject.  The first will run in about two weeks and will be based on Joe Tiffenbach, a model who garnered some flattering comments when I recently posted a photo of him.  Others will likely be Ed Fury, Glenn Bishop, Dan Lurie, and any suggestions you viewers may have.

As a genealogist, I have access to some great nuts and bolts resources for births, deaths, census reports, and city directory entries, but I'm putting out a call for contributions of photos, anecdotes, news stories, or other tidbits about these guys or any others you can think of.  Contributors will be profusely thanked and credited . . . or kept anonymous.  It's your choice on that one.  

Hoping to hear from you guys,
Jerry

10 comments:

  1. I will be looking forward to your project with great interest -- I just finished rereading the book: Picturing Men:a century of male relationships in every day American photography by John Ibson. At 80 I learned why my generation grew up with no examples of man-to-man affection let alone any access to real examples of men-with-men relationships. I have been trying for years to understand why this has been and John Ibson's book has been an eye opener

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    1. Sounds like you found a great cook, Chris. Thanks for writing!

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  2. As a fellow Michiganian, I've been collecting photos of Glenn Bishop for many years now (primarily off the internet). This collection currently runs to 391 items. You would be welcomed to look them over for possible use in your series, if you would like.

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind offer, Thom, and yes, I would like to see your collection of Glenn Bishop material. Please use the Contact Form near the top of the right hand side of this page to email me. It is completely private, and we can exchange messages and images there.

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  3. What a great project. I have always wondered what happened to early Colt models Hank and Jesse Ditmar. They had a considerable photographic career with Colt as well as a few movies with Mark Rutter.

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    1. With men as recent as most Colt models, many or most will still be living, and as such, their privacy concerns me. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but I would have to make every effort to contact them before publishing any details of their recent lives. Their modeling careers are of public record and fair game, though, so I do publish vignettes, stories, and session details when such are available and interesting.

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  4. Jerry, I think this is a fantastic idea and I look forward to it. Thx so much for all the work you do on this site, it's very appreciated.

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    1. It's so nice to get your expression of appreciation. It is indeed a lot of work, but I love it, and there are guys who help me such as Larry K. and BozB.

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  5. I often wonder how some of these guys fared in life and I would love to see some posts - here is a wikipedia entry on Kenneth Sprague aka "Dakota" who seems to have had a fascinating life
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Sprague

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    1. This guy was all over the place career wise, but in an impressive sort of way. At first glance he looks like "gay for pay," but his sexuality is probably more complicated than that. Thanks for the link.

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