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.
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?
ReplyDelete