Today will be the second (with more to come) series of pictures by Classic era physique photographers sent to me by Bryan B. This time we look at the work of Alonzo Hanagan, aka Lon of New York. Nearly all of today's models are unknown, starting with this one purported to be the subject of the very first physique photo Lon ever took. I did some research, and the man in the photo is believed to be a summer camp counselor fresh out of the shower photographed by a teenage Lon with a Kodak box camera. There's some history for you, folks.
Thank you Bryan for a phenomenal contribution.
In that era, males were less ashamed to be naked. I wonder, though, about developing such photographs. Was there heavy censorship back then?
ReplyDeleteI just looked it up, and Lon learned darkroom skills at, wait for it . . . summer camp. As Dee Exx notes below, there were places that would discretely develop such material in some large cities.
DeleteWow. How it all started. Any idea of the date? Despite some technical limitations, our, unknown man, who perhaps bravely agreed to pose nude, looks amazing. Dappled sunlight and that clapboarded hut. Long summer days at camp...
ReplyDeleteLate 1920s, but he had already been photographing his school friends, so he had a bit of experience by this point.
DeleteThank you, Jerry. Already developed a good eye for a figure.
DeleteBig Dude: Black and white film could be processed in home darkrooms. For many years, Kodak had a virtual lock on color film processing in the U.S. Sending anything like this to a lab (usually via a drugstore for most Americans) invited a visit from the vice squad. Even in the 1990s, I only used labs I knew were "family operated" to ensure my explicit pictures would not land me in jail. Jerry will remember a place on Decatur street in the French Quarter that would develop all Carnival pictures, no questions asked.-Dee Exx
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info, Dee. Yes, I remember that place, but believe it or not, there was also a kiosk at the mall in Hammond that would do it.
DeleteDo you have the address of this summer camp?
ReplyDeleteLon photographed his counselor at a summer camp in New Hampshire.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a handsome camp counselor at a summer camp I attended in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia as a teenager. He had light sandy brown hair and light green eyes with a fine physique and wore skimpy shorts.
Rex in DC
Now I know I went to the wrong summer camp!
ReplyDeleteSB Dan
LOL, I went to a labor camp, i.e. the family ranch where I already lived. I will say that I built up some muscles hauling hay and enjoyed skinny dipping with the cowboys in the irrigation pond.
DeleteSounds like a great dessert after a hot day.
DeleteI went to church camp until my early teens until my preacher father found out they liked bullying gay boys. I didn't have to go back.
I did enjoy the "Camp Labor", but I didn't get the joy of skinny dipping with anyone. Dayum.
Bullying at a church camp. Why am I not surprised?
DeleteINCREDIBLY titillating!! 😜 I'd LOVE to know how he got this handsome counselor to pose naked??? I realize that males weren't so uptight back then, but still! From what I've garnered as a Photographer myself, I believe it's an ego boost.
ReplyDeleteGreat comment! And your last three words are profoundly true.
DeleteVery true. I assume, our counselor had spent a lot of time building that body. Proud to show it off and get a permanent record.
DeleteSome links to the photographer, my 7th cousin, once removed, through marriages:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hanagan-91
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonzo_Hanagan
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88011139/alonzo-james-hanagan
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/LYFN-XP5
thanks!
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