Photographers - Part 45

 Sherwin Carlquist

Sherwin Carlquist (1930-2021) was a noted scientist.  After getting a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and doing postdoc studies at Harvard, he published eight books and over 300 papers on botanical science.  One of his specialties was island botany, particularly long-distance plant dispersal.  Above, Carlquist sits among silverswords growing in the crater of Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii.  The resinous scent of the silverswords reminded him of the scent of the tarweeds that he had studied in California.  After further study, he concluded that the silverswords had evolved from tarweeds whose seeds must have arrived long ago over thousands of miles of ocean.

Here's one of his books.  As a resident of Hawaii, I find his work interesting.

Although some critics portrayed his work as old-fashioned, he stuck to his guns, supported by innumerable observations.  Later molecular studies have supported Carlquist's conclusions.  He had little time for critics with theories of disappearing land bridges, when a simpler explanation was that a bird could transport a seed.

Carlquist also loved sports cars and photography.  He once threw out all of his packed clothes, returning from Australia, so he could bring back 40 pounds of exposed film in his luggage.

But Carlquist was also unapologetically gay, and his passion for photography extended to nude men.  Many of his photos were taken in the garden of his home in Hope Ranch, California; others at Joshua Tree, Big Sur, and the Sierras.

The result was 10 books of photos of natural men in the natural environment.  And by natural men, he meant uncircumcised men (more on that later).  Above, the cover of his book Man/Nature.

All of his photos were taken with a large-format Hasselblad camera in black and white.  Above, one of the photos from Man/Nature.

Another photo from Man/Nature.

I love the photo on the cover of Natural Objects.  It looks like a view of hills, until you realize it's a man's hairy chest.

A photo from Natural Objects, captioned "Rob: the eucalyptus tree on Gaviola Beach."

Another photo from Natural Objects, captioned "Jay: the Ficus petiolaris tree in my garden."

Carlquist had strong views against circumcision.  Above is a 2009 photo of an uncircumcised penis and an unfolding frond of Cibotia chamissoi, a Hawaiian tree fern.  The curled-up fronds echo the shape of the foreskin.  A beautiful and striking composition.

He produced a whole book of photos called Uncut: The Natural History of the Foreskin.  Above, an erect penis almost covered by the foreskin.

Here's a gif I made from five photos in the book showing a man pulling back his foreskin.

Cold temperatures cause the foreskin to contract, along with the penis.  This was taken on a cold day in January.

Carlquist provided a bit of history for this one: ancient Greek athletes tied up their foreskin with a cord called a kynodesme (above).  It was perfectly acceptable for an athlete to be naked (our word gymnasium comes from the Greek word for naked, because it was a place to be naked), but the sight of the glans of the penis not covered by the foreskin was considered vulgar.

Carlquist also showed examples of the usefulness of the foreskin.  Above, it provides a place to accumulate precum, which then acts a lubricant.

In a slightly less serious vein, he proposed that it's a good place to store some spare change.

We end with this photo by Carlquist with the universal "OK" symbol, saying it's OK to have a foreskin.