Don Herron Bathtub Photos

While researching a recent series on the work of Crawford Barton, I rediscovered the bathtub series of photos by Don Herron.  Beginning around 1977, Mr. Herron started asking friends, acquaintances, and friends of friends to pose in the bathtub.  He continued doing this well into the 1990s, and I am featuring ten of these where the models were members of the artistic community.  We start with Victor Hugo, aka Victor Rojas, an interesting character best known for his association with Andy Warhol.  You can read more about him here:  http://www.vintagemusclemen.com/search?q=victor+hugo

 

Victor Bokris

Writer Victon Bokris went full Monty for his Herron photo.

 

Ron Jehu

Artist, interior designer, and gallery owner Ron Jehu soaped up his face

and shoulders when he posed for Don Herron.

 

Peter Berlin

It was 1978 when photographer Peter Berlin posed for Don Herron.  I have to be honest and say 

that I find photos of Peter Berlin taken by others to be far superior to his multitude of self 

portraits.  Search as I might, I haven't been able to find any photos this guy took of anyone 

but himself.  Narcissism, anyone?  Having said all that, I may give him a day here.  

I post material that I don't personally like on a regular, if infrequent, basis.

 

Jerry Burchard

Photographer Jerry Burchard posed for Don Herron in sunglasses and with a King Kong toy.

 

Peter Hujar

Peter Hujar has appeared nude in self portraits here on the blog in the past.

This time Don Herron took the photo.

 

Keith Haring

No less a figure than Keith Haring posed for Mr. Herron in 1982.

Is that a floating toy at lower left?

 

Mel Odom

New York artist Mel Odom posed for Don Herron with an ornate mask.

 

Charles Busch

I find this Herron photo of actor Charles Busch tro be artfully done.

 

Robert Mapplethorpe

Ending the Don Herron bathtub set with what may be the most 

well recognized of all his photos of this type, Roberr Mapplethorpe.

 

Poolside Nudist Day

Every selfrespecting nudist camp had a swimming pool, and today we look at some men

 around them.  This guy appears to have emerged from the pool enclosure to dry off.

 

Tangled

\

I can't imagine what they would need a net for at a swimming pool.

Maybe it was used to pull out foundering females.

 

Tug of war

A tug of war on the diving board seems to be going on.

 

Surprise splash

Our subject's look of surprise is probably from being splashed.

 

Looking out

This guy seems to be looking out over the pool area.

 

Odd expression

I don't know what to make of this man's expression.

 

Floating lounge chair

It looks like a floating lounge chair in front of this guy,

but I'm sure none of you are looking at it.

 

Natural look

I think this nudist is sitting at the edge of one of those pools built to look like a natural one.

 

Happy trails

The happy trail and sparkling blue water stand out in this one.

 

More horseplay

The public pool in my hometown forbade horseplay, but based on the number 

of nudist photos showing it, I don't think they had a problem with it.

 

Bountiful Bulges Day

Someone commented three weeks ago on one of my George O'Brien Day posts that he really enjoyed photos of crotch bulges.  So that inspired today's set.  We start with a young man who was putting on a show that could only have gotten better once he got went.

 

Onesie

Not that any of you will care, but this man is wearing a onesie, or a singlet if you prefer.

 

Only one

Only one is visible here, but it's nice.

 

Ordinary average guy

Mr. Scumbeast gave me this picture of an ordinary average guy with a bulge.

 

Yale Varsity

Each and every guy in this photo of the Yale Varsity rowing team sports a bulge.

 

Construction

Who hangs out on a construction scaffold in a tight fitting bathing suit?

This bulging beauty, that's who.

 

Mr. Right

Mr. Right is showing more than the other two, but all three

 of these GIs on a tropical beach sport bulges.

 

Small, but distinct

The bulge here is on the small side, but quite distinct.

 

1950

This one is dated 1950, and it must be European.  I can't imagine Americans wearing 

outfits like those at that time.  Added bonus:  We even get shadows despite the suits.

 

A surprise at the end

This last one isn't the sort of bulge  y'all were expecting, 

but there is one.  Or are there two?

 

Darryl Powers Day

Darryl Powers, aka Lance Ponton, was one of the most prolific models who worked for Walter Kundzicz of Champion Studio.  In fact, he also worked for Mr. K in other capacities at his Sunset Beach Club nudist resort in Florida.  For more about this interesting fellow, click his label, and you will find more info.  We start with a lakeside flexing pose.

 

Competition pose

Although I'm not aware that Darry Powers was a competive bodybuilder,

this is a classic competition pose.

 

Garage I

Buddy Reagan appears in this photo made in a garage which had been converted into a weight training area.  We'll see Darry getting ready for the session in later picture today.

 

With Joe I

Here we see Darryl Powers with Joe Alonzo and an unknown female.  Walter Kundzicz included females in some of his "nudist" photos apparently to dispel the notion that they were really

 intended for a gay audience . . . which was exactly the target market.

 

Alluring

Even in a posing strap, Darryl Powers looks alluring in this reclining shot.

 

Props

Walter Kundzicz was known for his use of a wide variety of theatrical props in his work.  

Most of the time, that was done indoors, but here we see Darryl Powers outdoors.

I have to say it's a fine derriere view, despite the questionable prop choice.

 

Weights again

Darryl was getting his weight training done outside this time.

 

Not Sunset Beach

I think Walter Kundzicz took Darry Powers on an outing to make this beach photo.

Sunset Beach, Mr. Kundzicz's nudist resort was on a lake, not the ocean.

 

With Joe II

Here's another picture of Darry Powers with Joe Alonzo at the Sunset Beach Club.

 

Garage II

Our last photo of Mr. Powers was taken in the same session as an earlier picture 

in today's set.  This one does not include Buddy Reagan, though.

 

Memorial Day 2024

 Memorial Day 2024 . . .

          . . . a story of hospitality and remembrance.

During World War II, for reasons that never were made clear to the locals, the U.S. Army set up a small training facility for combat engineers at an underutilized Texas Highway Department facility in my home town.  Dropped literally into the middle of nowhere, the soldiers didn't remain strangers for long.  The people of the community took these men from all over the USA under their wings, cooking them homemade meals, mending their clothes, inviting them to church socials, taking them to the movies, and giving them rides to larger towns.  My grandparents and four of their seven daughters, including my mother, took part in this.  Before they left for Europe, the local photographer took free photos for all of them.  He kept copies of the pictures along with the men's home addresses.  When the war ended, he contacted the families and learned that more than a dozen of them had lost their lives.  In the lobby of the town library, they placed pictures and stories about these men for everyone to remember.  As a small boy, I asked about them, and my grandmother told me,  "They weren't from here, but they were ours."  Today we will remember ten of these men.

We begin with Pfc. Arthur Brown, Jr. of Walhalla, South Carolina.  He was killed 

while repairing the strategic Remagen Bridge across the Rhine in March of 1945.

Pvt. Barton Weaver

Pvt. Barton Weaver was from Hawarden, Iowa and died of wounds two months 

after being taken prisoner by the Germans in December, 1944,

 

Don MacLean

Don MacLean of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (rank unknown) was 

killed in Germany during the final days of the war.

 

Pfc. Frederick Charles Woody

Cleveland, Ohio was home for Pfc. Frederick Charles Woody.

He was only 19 when killed in Germany in January of 1945.

 

Pfc. Johnnie Jorgenson

\Private Johnnie Jorgenson of Reno, Nevada was killed in action in Belgium on December 18, 1944.

 

Cpl. Raymond Beck

Baltimore, Maryland was home for Raymond Beck.  Like many of the trainees, he served in the 99th Division, and like many of those, he was killed in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium.

 

Pfc. Robert L. Schear

Pfc. Robert Schear of Geneva, Iowa was one of the first to complete his training in my home county, and as a result, he was in the thick of things beginning with the Normandy beaches.  He was wounded there, but returned to action shortly, going all the way into Germany.  It was there on November 29, 1944 that he led a patrol behing enemy lines from which he did not return.  He received a Presidential Citation, the Purple Heart, six battle stars, and the Combat Infantry Badge.

 

Cpl. Walter L. Champoux

Detroit was home for Corporal Walter L. Champoux.

He was killed in action taking the city of Cologne on March 6, 1945.

 

Lt. S.J. Fooshee, Jr.

Not all of the men who were trained as combat engineers near my home town were from out of state.  S.J. Fooshee was from Houston, and he was commissioned a lieutenant at Fort Riley before going through the D-Day invasion and then being killed in action in Belgium on December 20, 1944.

 

Pfc. William M. Bruce

 

William M. Bruce of Washington D.C. was a law student at George Washington University when he joined the U.S. Army in the summer of 1943.  After combat engineer training in Texas, he served in Belgium where he was killed in action on the last day of 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge.

I can't help but remember some lines from an anti-war song by The Band:

                                                                Back with my wife in Tennessee
                                                                When one day she called to me
                                                                "Virgil, quick, come see,
                                                                There goes Robert E. Lee!"

                                                                Now, I don't mind. I'm chopping wood
                                                                And I don't care if the money's no good
                                                                Take what you need, and leave the rest,
                                                                But they should never have taken the very best.