Konrad Helbig

Galerie au Bonheur, being based in Paris, naturally has much French content, but they do feature international figures as well.  This 1965 images is by German photographer Konrad Helbig.

 

Konrad Helbig Day

I recently came across some "new" Konrad Helbig photos, so that's what's on show for today.

We start with a pair of young Brazilian men having fun in the nude.

 

Uncertain provenance

Although I found this in a group of Helbig photos, I'm not sure it's his.

The model could easily be Sicilian, but the backdrop says something else.

 

Jump!

One word:  Exuberant

 

Fisherman

This young Sicilian fisherman has an intersting type of net.

 

Studio piece

The lighting and use of a staff as a prop make this shot

 a bit more elaborate than most of Helbig's studio work.

 

On the farm

Some of my favorite Helbig works are G-rated working men, as above.

 

Brazil

This Brazilian model looks eager to please.

 

Archaeology

It isn't well known, but Konrad Heilbig had a university degree in archaelogy

and used his photographic talent to catalog antiquities, as above.

 

Sambe

Helbig's Brazilian work alternated between beach boys and samba dancers.

 

Young men in the ocean

Our last Helbig photo of the day shows four young men enjoying the sea in Sicily.

 

Unlabeled

I found this stray Gallerie au Bonheur catalog page with no label.

I think, however, that it might be one of Konrad Helbig's Brazilian photos.

 

Konrad Helbig, Part 2

This barefoot vineyard worker is quite impressive.

Konrad Helbig's nudes and semi-nudes were said to have been influenced by

von Gloeden and Pluschow, and this photo is often used as an example.

This Germanic looking young man seems to have just taken a dip in the sea.

Photographing workmen (mostly young ones) seems to have been a favorite theme in Konrad Helbig's work, and I have seen such work done in Germany, Italy, Africa, and Brazil.

 

This young man manages to be quite sexy by being just slightly undressed.

Konrad Helbig

Konrad Helbig (1917-1986) was a German archaeologist and photographer who managed to survive several years of combat on the Eastern Front in World War II and two years in a Soviet POW camp following the war only to be killed in a car crash while vacationing in Spain.  Known during his lifetime for his photos of archaeological sites, artifacts, and landscapes, only after his death did his male nude photos come to light.  The book Homo Sum is one of several volumes of his photos of young men taken in Germany, Italy (mostly Sicily) and Brazil.  So today will be Konrad Helbig day.

Helbig labeled this one "Sicilian Fisherman," and I posted it on my old tumblr 

without knowing that . . . or even that it was by Helbig.

This is another of those photos where we might hope that the photographer 

provided the model with a hidden pad to go underneath.