Vintage Military - Part 65

 Korean Front, 1951

In 1951, LIFE photographer Michael Rougier was documenting the Korean War.  These photos, from a photo shoot called "Korean Front," show some U.S. soldiers getting a little R&R by going swimming amid the devastation of the war.

Of course there was no need for modesty – the soldiers lived, showered and slept together.

Here's something you wouldn't have seen in World War II.  In 1948, President Truman signed an executive order integrating the U.S. armed forces, and the Korean War was the first conflict where African-Americans served in integrated units.

Some of the men had gotten floats to play with ...

if they could stay on them without falling off.

The soldier at right is not joining in the swimming fun.  Perhaps he's there to safeguard the others.  After all, it's a war zone.

I don't know if he's washing the Jeep or himself.

These two guys are posed to conceal frontal exposure.  Photo subjects were told that LIFE would never publish frontal nudity, and it never did.  Frontal shots were cropped or went unpublished.  Rear nudity was occasionally published.

But in this shot, something was not quite concealed as intended.

None of today's photos were published in LIFE magazine, but whether published or not, 4 million photos taken by LIFE photographers were saved, and they are now available in an online archive at https://artsandculture.google.com/search/entity?p=life-photo-collection

Vintage Muscle Men showed the photo above recently, which inspired me to do this post.  Thanks, Jerry!

Election Day 2024

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Events - Part 62

 Christopher Street Day, Berlin, 2019

Christopher Street Day (CSD) is the name that some cities in Germany and Switzerland use for their Gay Pride celebration.  The name refers to the location of the Stonewall Riots on Christopher Street in New York City in 1969.  CSD is a celebration, usually including a parade, but it's also a demonstration for LGBT rights and against discrimination.

Today's photos are from CSD Berlin, July 27, 2019.  Above, second from right is Jerome Jolibois, who organizes the annual World Naked Bike Ride in Brussels, Belgium, and at right is William Helsen, who took most of today's photos.  You can see Berlin's Brandenburg Gate in the background.

Most of the parade marchers are clothed, but here are a bunch who are naked, and several of them are painted with rainbow stripes.

A rainbow-striped guy getting a little excited.

More rainbow-striped marchers.  The sign on the right protests against Jens Spahn, who was Germany's Federal Minister of Health at the time.  Spahn is openly gay; he fought for gay rights in Germany, including same-sex marriage.  As health minister, he introduced a law to ban "conversion therapy" – the unscientific and harmful practice of trying to convert a gay person to be straight.  So I don't know what this guy is protesting.

William posing with the protester.

The protester and a chubby buddy.

A side view of the chubby guys in the crowd.

This guy with an unusual Mohawk has attracted a side glance from a passer-by, and it's not his hair that's the attraction.

Watching from the sidelines.

We end with this guy painted as Goldmember.  Is he the same Goldmember whom we have seen at some World Naked Bike Ride events?  I think he is.

Photographers - Part 60

Hans Fahrmeyer

Hans Fahrmeyer, above, was born in Germany in 1953 and spent his first sixteen years in an orphanage.  Trained in Germany as a house painter, he became a photographer and moved to New York in 1984 where he specialized in portraits, stage productions like opera, special events, and body and fitness photography.  His photos have appeared in major publications, including Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, Men's Workout, Men's Fitness, and Playgirl.

He has published seven books of his photographs.

His photos includes a few nude women and a vast collection of nude men.  Some are rear views.  The photo above was labeled "Need kitchen help, Phil Fusco looks the right one."

Another beguiling rear view looking over a landscape.

But, unlike some photographers of male nudes, most of his photographs show frontal views.  The photo above of a well-endowed model is from his book Water Moves.

His photos never show explicit sex, but sometimes they strongly suggest what will happen next, like the one above.

Fahrmeyer also has no problem showing erections, as above, with one model eyeing the other one.  Fahrmeyer doesn't show what happens next, but we can guess.

And a guy can always take matters into his own hands, and Fahrmeyer shows that, too.

Fahrmeyer has also produced a number of manipulated photos, like Collage 016 above showing three copies of a well-endowed motorcyclist.

Collage 014, above, combines a front view and rear view of the same model.

The Male Nude 15 is a classic double exposure, showing the same model dressed and undressed (actually quite a bit more than just undressed).

This photo, from a collection called Masculine Reflections, shows a nude man remarkably painted with zebra stripes to (almost) disappear into the background.

We end with a "photo of the day" for March 15, 2018 that Fahrmeyer posted on his Twitter page, showing a New York billboard ad for Encounter by Calvin Klein featuring a nude male photo by Hans Fahrmeyer.  It's remarkable for a public billboard to use a photo showing a penis.  Some readers have questioned whether this photo is real or Photoshopped.  If it's Photoshopped, then Fahrmeyer did it himself.

Calendars - Part 60

Movember

The month of November has been designated as Movember.  The word combines "mo", Australian slang for a mustache, and the month November.  The annual Movember event, which was started in 2004 by an Australian charitable foundation, involves men growing a mustache during the month of November to help raise awareness of men's health issues: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide.

A group of men in Wollongong, Australia, near Sydney, not only grew mustaches but posed for a naked calendar to support the Movember charity.

Above, Tim Day, manager of the Howlin' Wolf bar in Wollongong, with the 2014 "Men of Movember" calendar.

The calendar cover photo shows the men who participated.

Mr. March, Michael Edwards.

Mr. April, Tim Day, skateboarding naked down the street.  He's the same guy who posed on his bar in the first photo.

Mr. May, Simon Evans, is the chef at a fine dining restaurant in Wollongong.  Here he's fixing a barbecue in his back yard.

Mr. June, Josh Haberfield, is the photographer who took all of the calendar photos.

Mr. November, Caius Don Pounder, posing as an artist (I don't think he really painted that).  He grew the biggest Movember mustache of the group.

Mr. December, Mark Scott, may be thinking about the one that got away.

All proceeds from calendar sales go to the Movember Foundation to help raise awareness of men's health issues.

Dia de los Muertos 2024

Dia de los Muertos

Today is Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico.  The holiday is traditionally celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, though it can extend to other days depending on the location.

The purpose of the holiday is to remember and pay respects to family members and friends who have died.  Holiday traditions include using calaveras (skulls or skeletons).

Here are two celebrants wearing calaveras masks.

The orange Mexican marigold, sometimes called the Flor de Muerto (Flower of the Dead) has become part of the Dia de los Muertos celebrations.  The flowers are put on grave offerings or in homes where it is thought the bright flowers can attract and guide the souls of the dead.

It looks like the marigold has done its job, and the two Muertos are attracted to each other.

Attracted both on the front side ...

and the rear.  I must note that a certain body part doesn't look dead.  But the messages of Dia de los Muertos are that death is part of life, and the dead are not forgotten.