Colt Studio Day

I've been meaning to do another Colt Studio series for some time, and I can think of no better way to start than with this picture Steve Kelso.  Jim French hit his stride at Colt in the late 1960s, a time when liberalization of the US obscenity laws opened the floodgates of frontally nude male photos.  While some photographers were shooting hundreds of shots of any twink or trollop willing to strip, Mr. French specialized in beefier, slightly older models, and for that we should be grateful.

 

David Gold

It's a testament to the quality of Jim French's work at Colt that this photo of David Gold 

has shown up on blogs and in magazines described as "typical" or "average."

 

Dakota and Friend

This came to me labeled as "Dakota and Roomie by Colt," and I don't know if that was 

a thematic device for the photo shoot or if those two were actually roommates.

 

Pete Kuzak

This photograph of Pete Kuzak is my favorite of the day, and it's virtually G-rated.

 

Ric Dreslin

I stole this picture of Ric Dreslin, aka Jean Claude, from James at Men From Back Then.

Thanks, as always, James!

 

Pat Helms

Although he certainly isn't the only model in today's set with helmet hair,

for some reason I really notice it in this photo of Pat Helms.

 

Bruce van Allen

The photo shoot that produced this picture of Bruce van Allen 

included a very high proportion of excellent shots.

 

Mike West

Two things stand out about this Colt photo of Mike West,  First, there's his "chiseled" good looks.  Second, he's ripping his way out of his shirt, something Jim French had his models do on a number of occasions.  We might also add a certain shadow that Big Dude will no doubt notice.

 

Russ

The only info I had on this one was "Russ by Colt Studio."  Jim French had several models who went by only one name, so perhaps "Russ" was all.  If anyone knows more, please comment.

 

Wayne Gentry

The last photo in our Colt set is Wayne Gentry standing is some sort of stylized doorway.

 

19th Century Men

We're going back to the 19th Century for today's set,

starting with the first of several photos by Louis Igout.

 

Just a glimpse

The first of two possible model steadying devices in today's series is visible in this photo.

We get just a glimpse of package, and the photographer is unknown, to me anyway.

 

Unknown

I really like this one and know nothing about it.

 

Joke

An unnamed artist is said to have posed for this late 19th C. photo as a joke.

 

Marconi 1870

This 1870 photo by Marconi is far and away my favorite of the day.

The man is simply beautiful.

 

Igout Duo

This pair is documented as by Louis Igout, and the fellow

 at left appears alone later in today's series with his discus.

 

French 1890s

The grainy photo quality makes me think of an early 20th C. magazine,

but a reputable source says this is 1890s French.

 

Edmond Lebel

This photo is by Edmond Lebel, an artist better known for his paintings.

The only other photo I could find by him was a group of musican instruments.

 

Likely Igout

Althought it didn't come to me labeled as by Igout, I recognize the model as one of his.

I like the rather unusual take on the discus thrower motif.

 

That device

Our last photo may (or may not) feature one of those devices for holding the model still.

In any case, that model is one fine example of masculinity.

 

Ten Lesser Known Physique Photographers

I'm digging deep today for some photos by lesser known physique photographers.  

We start with a picture I posted a couple of years ago without andy info.  

I have since learned that this is Tommy Haxton by Bob Anthony.

 

Art Modern

The image quality isn't the greatest, but I like this picture of Ray Anderson by Art Modern.

 

David of Cleveland

I'm a bit doubtful of the attrbution of this photo of an unknown to David of Cleveland.

Most of what I've seen by that studio is full frontal nudity and far less artistic.

 

D.O.M.

All my source had to say was that this is Lucky by D.O.M.

 

John Hernec

When I posted another photo of Phil Campisi (sometimes spelled Campesi) a while back, 

I expressed hope that someone could provide some infor on the photographer, John Hernec.  

So far, no luck.  Maybe this time someone will come through.

 

Mark One

Billy Hill gives us a nice derriere in this picture by Mark One Studio.

 

Metecue

Johnny Connelly appears in a twofer by Metecue Associates of Ypsilanti, Michigan.

 

Jack Sidney

This is a very interesting photo of a very young Kip Behar, who was known 

as Sol Behar when he still lived in Brooklyn and posed for Jack Sidney.

 

Joe Weber

I find this photo by Joe Weber of Paul Chandler to be artistic.

 

Jack Williams

St. Louis, Missouri was where Jack Williams worked when he took 

this photo of George Washington University student Mark Nixon.

 

Don't panic and always carry a towel

Today we look at ten photos where some men took along a towel 

according to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe's advice.

 

Peekaboo

Our subject with the towel looks like he was taken by surprise with his towel.

 

Tease

This one is a bit of a tease, but I like it a lot.

 

Amateur

I found this in a group of amateur photos, and if that was true,

it is one of the better composed one I've seen.

 

Complicated

This is a complicated, but pleasant, beach scene.

 

Locker room

I wish I knew the story behind this man with a towel in a locker room.

 

Shy?

Either the subject of this picture was shy, or the photographer had no 

clue about how to frame an image.  The towel is superfluous.

 

Miss Magnolia

Pictures of German soldiers were a specialty in Miss Magnolia Thunderpussy's collection,

and these three with a washtub and towel are a good example.

 

Diagonal

This fellow is taking the diagonal approach to toweling his back.

 

Scenic finale

Our last man with a towel is a scenic photo I used 

on my old tumbrl blog in a waterfall series.

 

"Panels"

I have a big file in my collection called "Panels."  It consists of photos that are mostly composites of multiple images put together for various reasons.  Today we look at ten examples, starting with this Ivy League posture study.  I have erroneously labeled photos as Ivy League in the past, but I'm pretty sure I have this one right because it says "Yale" at upper right.

 

Not a contact sheet

I found this group of photos by Albert Londe on an internet auction site that had recently sold a group of contact sheets by classic physique era photographers.  They mistakenly labeled this as a contact sheet when it was actually a motion study series by Prof. Londe.

 

St. Mary's Pre-Flight School - Nude

A more tenacious researcher than myself has figured out that the St. Mary's College Pre-Flight School photos were only done in the nude for a single day, June 13, 1942.  When I saw that, I thought, "Huh?"  Sure enough, upon reviewing my files I found the same result.  Did a recruit complain?  Or did the Catholic brothers who ran the college ask for it to change?

 

Igout Page

Over the years I've published dozens of photos attributed to Louis Igout, an 1880s photographer who made nude photos for artists too poor to hire paid models.  In a further effort to keep costs down, it seems that most of these were published as panels of multiple photos per page.  When trolling for them on the internet, I have to do repeated searches to find scans of sufficient resolution to crop out individual shots.  The above is toward the better end of the continuum, but I have resorted to lower quality scans when I found a low resolution picture I just had to have.

 

Fort Sheridan

For some reason, two versions of recruit 9390 from the Fort Sheridan body typing photos 

are in circulation.  Someone cropped the rear view in the upper one.  FWIW, they are 

also the very worst image quality of all my World War II photos of this sort.

 

Medical text

I think this is from an Eastern European medical text.

The bar across the eyes reminds me of 1920s porn.

 

More Estonians, this time 701-702

And here we have some more interwar Estonians.  This time I have posted the three poses separately rather than making a composite, giving bigger images and better detail.