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Saturday, September 17, 2022

A Day Out with Prof. Eakins


Eakins lost his teaching job at one point for what was then the scandalous use of nude models, particularly their use with female students.  Today, we look at some photos of his male students on an outing which was photographed.  The nude sports would not have been taboo as long as no females were present, but photography might have been.  As an aside, there is some uncertainty as to whether Eakins himself or one (or more) of the students took these.  I'm going with Eakins.

 

10 comments:

  1. It is a nice shot, regardless of who took it. I take it the sepia tone was a normal thing for that era.

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    1. A common photo printing process at the time was the albumen method, which involved making the paper glossy. Egg whites were a key ingredient, and they tended to turn yellowish or brown over time. Eakins' work was in the heyday of albumen printing, so that' probably the cause. Later, some more modern photographers started artificially creating sepia tones to resemble old albumen prints.

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  2. Oh, wonderful. Thank you for posting these. I didn't know there were so many. I so wish I had been in Eakin's class. Observing, sketching, and taking part in this celebration of the male nude form.

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    1. 1883, and thanks for asking. I should have included that from the outset.

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  3. So very hot and sexy Thank you again for posting these !

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  4. During my research on the history of men's sports wear, I came across a lot of images of men boxing naked. It was quite accepted but, as you say, provided it was in an all-male environment.

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    1. I've seen a photo of a very high profile late 19th C. championship boxing match with tens of thousands of spectators in which the contestants were nude.

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