Beach Bums - Part 85

Nudist Jeff at the Beach

We have featured many photos of Jeff Cocking, a dedicated nudist who lives in Western Australia and posts daily photos of himself on his Twitter page as Nudist Jeff.  Today we'll see Jeff on some beaches near where he lives.  Above, Jeff (at right) with his friend Jacob on Mazzoletti Beach on the south shore of Western Australia, a bit west of Albany.

On Mazzoletti Beach.

A cold day on Mazzoletti Beach.  You can see that a critical part has shrunk a bit.

In a rubber boat off Mazzoletti Beach.

Above Dingo Beach, just west of Albany.

Whaler's Cove.

At an unnamed beach with fellow nudist barefooted_trekka.

Jeff playing naked in the waves.

Having fish and chips with his partner Jason on Swanbourne Beach in Perth.

Jeff (left) with his partner Jason (right) on Swanbourne Beach.

We end with a shot that Jason took of Jeff against the sunset on Swanbourne Beach.  Beautiful.  And the sunset is nice, too.

Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 82

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World Naked Bike Ride - Part 91

Brussels 2015

Jerome Jolibois, at right, has been organizing the World Naked Bike Ride in Brussels, Belgium since 2005.  Above, he is attending a party on March 21, 2015, months before the ride, to promote the WNBR.

For the ride itself on June 20, Jerome dyed his mustache green.  I don't know if it was to make him more recognizable to the other riders that he was organizing, or it was a visual pun about the WNBR being a "green" event, because bicycles don't generate pollution like cars do.

Here we see that he is naked for the ride.  Jerome is a committed nudist.  He has even appeared naked on TV.

Jerome leading the WNBR riders.

In the Grand Place, Brussels.

A rear view of Jerome in the Grand Place.  On his back is written "0 gr. CO2", meaning zero grams of carbon dioxide (my thanks to Descamisado for pointing this out).  It's presumably a comment on bike-riding being non-polluting, but it's misinformed, since bike riders do consume oxygen and emit carbon dioxide.  However, they don't produce more toxic emissions, as cars do.  That's one of two major messages of WNBR: riding bikes is less polluting than driving cars.

And here's the other major WNBR message: promoting safety for bike riders by telling drivers to notice bike riders even when they're not naked.

Here we see Jerome sideways.  The writing on the back of the guy at left says "Je prête à rire mais donne à penser", which means "I invite laughter but give food for thought."  Perhaps the nudity of the WNBR riders will invite some people to think about the WNBR messages.

Jerome and other riders at the Place Raymond Blyckaerts.

The riders in downtown Brussels.  Jerome is at left.

The end of the ride at Square Frère-Orban, with Jerome again at the left.

Flag Day

Today is Donald Trump's birthday, which we will ignore.  It's also Flag Day in the United States.  Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the first U.S. flag by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.  The flag's 13 stripes represent the original 13 states.

Big Dude might appreciate the penis shadow in this photo.

You could celebrate Flag Day by wearing a flag shirt ...

of flag shorts ...

or you could let the flag bless your activities today.

Estonian Photos - Part 48

Estonian Photos

We continue our series of photos from the Tartu Ülikooli museum of anthropology in Estonia.

For those who haven't seen my previous posts in this series, a few words of explanation.  The museum provides no information about the men, other than the photos came from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu.  In particular, it does not say who these men are, or when or why the photos were taken.  However, the photos are labeled "Füüsilise antropoloogia pildistus" (physical anthropology photography).

Most of the photos show a front view, rear view, and side view of two men.  There was no explanation for why #181 was photographed alone, and why his rear view is missing.

Who are these men?  My best guess is that they are military recruits.  The very short haircuts suggest that these photos were taken during or shortly after the enlistment process.

When were the photos taken?  My best guess is between World War I and World War II, when Estonia was an independent country with its own military.  Before WWI, Estonia was part of the Russian Empire, and after WWII, Estonia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991.

A clue to the time frame is that these photographs were made on glass plates, not film. 

Dry glass-plate photography started in 1871 and began to fall out of use in the 1920s.  I found some references to it in Estonia through the 1930s.

One other clue to the time frame of these photos is that in two previous batches, one of the men is wearing a wristwatch.   Wristwatches were considered to be for ladies before World War I.  (Men used pocket watches.)  However, during the war, wristwatches proved very useful for soldiers and pilots.  After WWI, wristwatches came into fashion for men.

Although wristwatches were evidently rare in Estonia (only two men wore a wristwatch among the hundreds that were photographed), it suggests that these photos are post-World War I.

Since the use of glass plates fell out of use in the 1920s, I think the photos were most likely taken shortly after World War I.

Some of the men in this series have darker faces and hands.  Are they tanned from working outside like farmers, or are they dirty from some dirty occupation?  We don't know.

Note: the dark faces and hands are not visible on most of the subjects in today's post.  Perhaps the photos in today's post were taken in the winter, when farmers would not be spending as much time outside getting tanned.

Although these appear to be military recruits, these are probably not military photos.  We know that the museum that currently has the photos got them from the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Tartu.  If these are military photos, why would they end up at the Institute of Anatomy?

I believe the photos were taken by academics doing a study of physical anthropology.  

Scientists at the Institute of Anatomy were trying to measure what they considered racial characteristics of the population by measuring the body, including phrenology (measuring the skull), ideas which are now discredited.

I think that the scientists at the Institute of Anatomy may have persuaded the military to let them take photographs of the naked new recruits for "research" purposes.  

I have no written evidence to support this idea, but since the photos were at the Institute of Anatomy, and the photo subjects appear to be military recruits, it's now my best guess as to what happened.

One other question that perennially arises from these photos is: why were the men photographed in pairs?  Was it to save film?

Note: there was no explanation for why #190 was photographed alone, not in a pair.

The answer is that these photos were made on glass plates, not film, but glass plates were more expensive and involved more labor than film, so yes, it's likely that the men were photographed in pairs to save on glass plates.

So, bottom line: My best guess is that these photos were taken after World War I, the subjects are new or recent Army recruits, and the Estonian military allowed scientists from the Institute of Anatomy to take photos of the naked recruits for a study of physical anthropology.