I believe these men with interesting neckwear are Amazonian tribesmen, 

but I could be wrong.  I've been wrong before.

I have no date for this photo of a Tahitian man with traditioal tattoos.

This studio photo may have been made in a European city using a colonial immigrant as a model, but I unfortunately can't find anything to substantiate that hypothesis. 

Patagonian tribesman.

Catch of the Day from Bruce of LA

As many of you have no doubt surmised, I have my collection of vintage nude photos obsessively arranged into categories.  When I looked at the "fish nets as props" category today, I realized that I had almost as many pictures by Bruce of LA as everyone else combined.  So I'm making it "Catch of the Day from Bruce of LA" day, and we start with Joe Dallesandro, later of Andy Warhol fame.

Bud Taylor may be casting his net in the direction of the Bum Brigade.

Jerry Sullivan is a bit wrapped up and really has his belly scrunched in for this Bruce of LA photo.

This is Charles Zumwalt, a model who posed for Bruce in a number of sessions.  Here he looks like he doesn't quite know what to do with the fish net, but he looks good not knowing it anyway.

Barry Adkins should fit the bill for those of you who like them lean and smooth.

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925, self portrait above) was an American artist who spent most of his life in Europe where he first gained notice as a portraitist to the wealthy.  Generally considered to be homosexual, he only partially kept his private life private, with an episode in Venice having been described by fellow artist Jacque-Emile Blanche as Sargent “buggering a succession of gondoliers.”  Hmmm … sounds like our kind of guy.  Anyway, today's art posts consist of Sargent's charcoal drawings of Italian men, some of whom were probably among those gondoliers.   

This is Nicola D'Inverno, Sargent's valet who frequently modeled for him.  Nicola was Italian born, but it is unknown how Sargent met him.  Was he one of those gondoliers Sargent picked up in Venice?  Was he also Sargent's lover?  He worked for and lived with Sargent for 24 years and even posed as a woman for one painting.  Hard to imagine them not being sexually involved.

Sensuality is the key concept in this Sargent drawing of an unknown model.

The look on the man's face a great combination or yearning and enjoyment.

Mario Mancini posed for this John Singer Sargent drawing.

The collection of nude studies from which all of today's Sargent works come was mostly charcoal on paper.  I know it's a well known method, but the depth and quality of this one amazes me.

This beautiful reclining man displays a sensuality that Sargent mostly kept out of his successful oil portrait business.  As with all of today's models, this one is presumed to be Italian, likely a gondolier.

The Ritter Brothers

The Ritter Brothers were a pair of New York area bodybuilders who both posed nude and photographed others that way between about 1932 and 1945.  Nearly all of the pictures 

of them are unattributed as to photographer, and there is a chance that some of them, 

including this one, were done with timers as self portraits.  These two would pick up men 

at gyms and take them home for photo sessions and who knows what else.

George Platt Lynes is credited with this rather provocative photo of the Ritter Brothers.

This rather idyllic photo of Fred and William Ritter is a personal favorite.

This photo of the Ritter Brothers is the second of only two in my collection 

with a photographer's attribution, in this case to Earle Forbes.

Here the well-oiled brothers seem to be about to have a go with fencing foils.

Roy Dean (1925-2002) was born and raised in England, but moved first to New York and then to Los Angeles in the early 50's to further his career in the movie industry.  Although he had some minor success as an actor, writer, set designer, and director in TV and film, he is best known for his male nude photography.  Some observers have described his works as "groundbreaking," and I can't deny that that much of it is artistic.  However, I think a lot of it's value lies in the classy and polished way it was presented via glossy, durable books instead of cheap magazines.  So today is Roy Dean day.

Except for the 70's hair style, this Roy Dean photo might have been by Les Demi Dieux.

In my opinion, Roy Dean's work, while certainly artistic, was in many ways derivative.  (In future series I'll show you some material that could easily have been by Don Whitman of Western Photography Guild and other great physique photographers.)  What set him apart, however, was the classy presentation in coffee table book format and themed sequences instead of a pulp magazine.

This is from the 1973 book The Naked Image.

This promotional piece features an excellent photo from 

Roy Dean's 1969 (and first) book, A Time in Eden.

This is another Dean photo from The Naked Image.  It's style makes me 

think of Playgirl, which debuted in June of the same year, 1973.
Edited to add:  IDed by JameIV in the comments as Rick Drasin.

One thing that definitely set Roy Dean apart from preceding physique photographers was the fact that he went out of his way to include Asian and Polynesian models.  This photo was made on a trip to Hawaii where he found a number of attractive men of many races willing to pose for him nude.

While this 1970 photo does have dramatic and interesting lighting, it doesn't have any elements that weren't in use by 1940's and 50's physique photographers.  Artistic?  Yes.  Original?  No.

Jean Ferrero Day, Part 2 - Non-nudes

Part two of Ferrero Day features some guys with pants on, 

except for Bud Lanter and Bob Felix shown here in posing pouches.

Ferrero took this photo of Jack Barclay at a sea bathing spot that required a 

metal ladder to get into the water.  Despite a well deserved reputation for the 

best beaches in the world, we have several places like that here in Hawaii.  

J.M. Negri was Mr. France Junior at some point in the 60's.

Christian Ferrand, Dominique Quillet, and an unknown model showed off their spiffy swim suits in this Ferrero beach photo.  Considering that he worked mostly in the Riviera region of France, Ferrero did relatively few photo shoots on beaches.  Surely there were nude beaches in France in the 60's?  Edited to add:  My good friend and collaborator, 2fourneausm has tentatively identified the mystery model as Christian Marchaudon, and I think he's right.  Thanks, Jean!

Ferrero photographed Serge Nubret in a typical competitive bodybuilder pose.

Jean Ferrero Day, Part 1 - the Nudes

Jean Ferrero was a prolific and talented French physique photographer who was most active in the 1960's and 70's.  This photo of Pierre Ross uses Ferrero's trademark Riviera scenery for a backdrop.

This photo of Bob Mazer by Ferrero piques my curiosity 

because only Bob's body is in color.  Surely the background wasn't that drab.

Berto Raggi seems to be having a tete-a-tete with a tree.

Derriere shots by Ferrero are relative rare, and Paul Poronides posed for this one.

Tito Centro posed with a staff across his shoulders for this photo.  

He was one of a number of moderately hairy models who posed for Ferrero.

Hands over heads . . . and over the top.

Tuesday's series is about 1900 era photos that I find to be a bit over dramatic.  They also have the commonality of the men having their hands over their heads.  We start with a guy who seems to be dangling something tantalizingly before his eyes.

Overwrought only begins to describe this one.  I see a nervous breakdown coming.

Is he pulling a handful of his own hair out? 

If you look closely, it seems he might be.

Here we have a fellow who got his pants part way down 

apparently only to discover he's having a really bad hair day.

"I can't do a thing with it!"

This man has a great body and probably has a handsome face, 

but the shadow across it gives him a definite "Frankenstein" vibe.
The photo is by Max Koch from 1896.

The TV set at lower right is a classic, but I'm sure you're more interested in Brian Idol.

He worked for AMG and Bruce of LA, but I think the style here is more like Bruce's.

Libraries and Physique Models

A library is not where one might ordinarily expect to find physique models, but today we will look at five of them among the books.  We start with a nice fellow with a crew cut.

Bare model and almost bare bookshelves.

I don't know what to make of the feet in this one.

 

Here we have what looks like a student from a posh private school who ditched his pants before hitting the books.  And what is that round thing on the right side of the picture?

Rub-a-dub-dub, Men in Tubs, Part 2 - The Shy Types

Part two of our tub extravaganza features some men who weren't quite ready to show it all.

We start with a 19th Century crowd in a corner.

These three seem to be getting quite close and personal in their tub.

The tan from the neck up may indicate that this fellow worked outdoors fully clothed.

These three guys aren't quite as conveniently arranged as today's other trio.

They do, however, seem to be enjoying themselves.