Showcasing vintage male photography, mostly nude. You must be 18 years of age or older to visit this blog! If you hold a copyright on any material shown on this blog, notify me, and it will be removed immediately.
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Friday, December 23, 2022
Military masses in the water
Today's series features military men in bodies of water.
As I have written before, the mores concerning male nudity in respect of photography came out of the European Classical Revival and lasted until the Great War. If the 1960s ended in 1973 at Woodstock, you could easily say that the 19th century ended in 1914 in the trenches of the Western Front. The post war world was a vastly different place and this affected photography of the nude male - censorship was incrementally introduced nearly everywhere.
What strikes me about this veritable plethora of historic photographs of naked WWI soldiers is that the Americans, the British and the French are in no way bashful but they are photographed clearly bathing. The Germans and the Finns as well as many of the Slavs are just simply swimming or alternatively just "going naked". I can understand that the populations of the Eastern empires were for the most part dirt poor and there was no money for the luxury of a bathing costume. But the Germans were not in that predicament. There is thus a marked cultural difference to "going naked" and the preparedness in being photographed in the bare that seems to divide Western from Eastern Europe.
Back in the day my cousin was an US Army nurse based out of Schwabische Gmund West Germany, I visited her for a week, staying in the beautiful city of Stuttgart. I had heard about the German FKK stuff but never really believed it. I don't believe til I see it. Well, I SAW IT at a public park in Stuttgart. Then I BELIEVED IT! People young and old, all body shapes. The most memorable was a large public swimming pool where a very well built and great looking college athlete was swimming in the nude. He even came up to me to converse. I felt myself turning beet red. I have a bathing suit on and he's completely nude and I was the one that was embarrassed. (more for him, then me) Rinsing off at a shower and him asking me to scrub his back and ass. Bring mich zuruch nach Stuttgart! - Rj/IE
It's very much a cultural thing. I once went to Finland in the 80s, and of course saunas are a great tradition in that country. I got invited to a public sauna in Helsinki but was too mortified to go because of the crowds. I felt bad not going, out of concern for being disrespectful of their hospitality and leaving them feeling insulted. Eventually I did go to a sauna in the countryside near Raseborg with a small group of athletes. In Finland at the time they had 2 major sports organizations TUL and SVUL. For a time sport was a political thing in Finland. TUL for socialist and SVUL for conservatives each with their own sports clubs and groups. The TUL athletes helped me get over the trauma of my first sauna and they even took me to their Kisakesus sport academy. I did not mind being in the company of these fine athletes. One was a javelin thrower another a hurdler. Back in the day Finland was a powerhouse in the Olympics for a country with a small population. I got to meet a couple of retired athletes who had participated in the 1936 and 1952 Olympics, the stories they told were enthralling. - Rj/IE
As I have written before, the mores concerning male nudity in respect of photography came out of the European Classical Revival and lasted until the Great War. If the 1960s ended in 1973 at Woodstock, you could easily say that the 19th century ended in 1914 in the trenches of the Western Front. The post war world was a vastly different place and this affected photography of the nude male - censorship was incrementally introduced nearly everywhere.
ReplyDeleteWhat strikes me about this veritable plethora of historic photographs of naked WWI soldiers is that the Americans, the British and the French are in no way bashful but they are photographed clearly bathing. The Germans and the Finns as well as many of the Slavs are just simply swimming or alternatively just "going naked". I can understand that the populations of the Eastern empires were for the most part dirt poor and there was no money for the luxury of a bathing costume. But the Germans were not in that predicament. There is thus a marked cultural difference to "going naked" and the preparedness in being photographed in the bare that seems to divide Western from Eastern Europe.
The Germans have stood out in this regard since the late 19th C. Even today, nude sunbathing in many of the Berlin parks is quite ordinary.
DeleteBack in the day my cousin was an US Army nurse based out of Schwabische Gmund West Germany, I visited her for a week, staying in the beautiful city of Stuttgart. I had heard about the German FKK stuff but never really believed it. I don't believe til I see it. Well, I SAW IT at a public park in Stuttgart. Then I BELIEVED IT! People young and old, all body shapes. The most memorable was a large public swimming pool
Deletewhere a very well built and great looking college athlete was swimming in the nude. He even came up to me to converse. I felt myself turning beet red. I have a bathing suit on and he's completely nude and I was the one that was embarrassed. (more for him, then me) Rinsing off at a shower and him asking me to scrub his back and ass.
Bring mich zuruch nach Stuttgart!
- Rj/IE
It's very much a cultural thing. I once went to Finland in the 80s, and of course saunas are a great tradition in that country. I got invited to a public sauna in Helsinki but was too mortified to go because of the crowds. I felt bad not going, out of concern for being disrespectful of their hospitality and leaving them feeling insulted. Eventually I did go to a sauna in the countryside near Raseborg with a small group of athletes. In Finland at the time they had 2 major sports organizations TUL and SVUL. For a time sport was a political thing in Finland. TUL for socialist and SVUL for conservatives each with their own sports clubs and groups. The TUL athletes helped me get over the trauma of my first sauna and they even took me to their Kisakesus sport academy.
ReplyDeleteI did not mind being in the company of these fine athletes. One was a javelin
thrower another a hurdler. Back in the day Finland was a powerhouse in the Olympics for a country with a small population. I got to meet a couple of retired athletes who had participated in the 1936 and 1952 Olympics, the stories they told were enthralling. - Rj/IE