Estonian Photos - Part 22

Estonian Photos

Here's another group 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.  In particular, it does not say who these men are, or when or why the photos were taken.

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.

The dark faces and hands of many of the men suggests that they are tanned from working outside like farmers.

When were the photos taken?  My assumption has been 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 a previous batch, 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 they 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.

Although these appear to be military recruits, these may not not be 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?

A more likely possibility is that the photos were taken by academics.  Scientists at the Institute of Anatomy were doing studies to try 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?

The answer is that these photos were made on glass plates, which 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 "research".

Boys and their Balls - Part 56

Pétanque

Pétanque, also known as Boules (which means balls in French), is a game developed in France.  Above, Joueurs de Boules (Game of Bowls), a 1908 painting by Matisse.  Apparently there was already a tradition of playing the game naked.

The object of the game is to toss balls as close as possible to a target ball.  It can be played with one or more players on each team, and the team that gets a ball closest to the target wins.  Above, measuring the distance to the orange target ball.

This birthday card was called "Boules and balls."

Chris Hughes and Kem Cetinany were on the British dating show Love Island in 2017, along with girlfriends, but the surprising show development was the bromance between Chris and Kem.  In 2018 they starred in a reality show You vs Chris & Kem, where they took part in challenges sent in by viewers.  One challenge was to play naked boules, which they did, above, though they seem to be paying more attention to each other than to the game.

Petanque or boules has become a favorite activity at nudist resorts worldwide.

Above, a nude boules tournament in Limburg, Holland is crashed by a clothed streaker.

Petanque players at the Cypress Cove nudist resort in Florida.

Petanque at Cypress Cove.

Petanque at Cypress Cove.

This leaked photo of New Zealand judge David Saunders raking his petanque court caused a scandal in 2016.  In 2021, after the judge had retired, he went public about his nudist lifestyle.

Bocce is another game similar to petanque, though in bocce the balls are bowled at the target, and in petanque they are thrown.  But naked bocce has never become popular at nudist resorts like petanque has.  Above, bocce players at a Burning Man festival.

We close with a note about one of the rules in petanque.  If the losing side scores no points at all, it's called a "fanny," and the loser(s) are supposed to kiss the bottom of a girl named Fanny.  Well, what if a girl named Fanny isn't available?  I'm sure another fanny could be be found for kissing.

Hiking - Part 56

Acadia National Park

Most of Acadia National Park in Maine is located on rocky islands off the Maine coast, principally Mount Desert Island.  Above, Fishermen by John Currin, who spends summers on that island.  The painting is from a dream he had, showing himself (left) and his former partner Sean.

Mount Desert Island is not a desert island.  It has forests ...

and rocky shores ...

and hiking trails that lead up the slopes ...

to Cadillac Mountain (above).  Cadillac Mountain is not high (only 1530 feet), and there's a road to the summit as well as a trail, so it can be crowded, but it has great views of the ocean and the Maine coast.

Here is naturist Thomas Muther on the side of Cadillac Mountain.

And here he is on the Dorr Trail.

We end with a photo by Kevin Warth called Cadillac Mountain and Surrounding Forests, Acadia National Park.  Of course, it's really a human body, and I must say, I like the "forest".

Weighing In - Part 58

 Alvaro Rodriguez

Spanish boxer Alvaro "Ardy" Rodriguez weighs in for a fight against Thomas Ward on July 28, 2018 in Houghton le Spring, England, for the International Boxing Federation's intermediate title.  The official proclaims that he is one pound over the weight limit.

No modesty towel for this weigh-in, and that's how it should be.  Rodriguez managed to lose one pound before the fight, but despite being the Spanish champion in his weight category, he lost the match to his unbeaten British opponent Thomas Ward.

Poem of the Day - Part 57

Big Naked Man
by Alison Luterman

This poem was written after the poet saw this sculpture Big Man by Ron Mueck in the Hirshhorn museum in Washington, DC.

                                        Slumps, glowering,

                                        ten feet tall

                                        in a corner of the white museum.

                                        The little live boy is amazed

                                        at the man’s gigantic penis,

                                        slack, pink, hairy.

                                        He giggles with his hand over his mouth,

                                        pointing at the sad sack balls

                                        ten times their normal size,

                                        hanging like discouraged tomatoes

                                        in the wrinkled pink scrotum.

                                        Here, little boy, is what you get if you’re lucky,

                                        if you live to get old:

                                        pendulous belly, thighs like spoiled milk,

                                        veins, splotches, wrinkles, enlarged pores.

                                        The big naked man

                                        has spent all his non-life in various galleries,

                                        amazing and disgusting onlookers.

                                        Is he really polyester?

                                        How long did it take to make him?

                                        They never ask, Who loved him?

                                        Although clearly someone did:

                                        enough to render

                                        in perfect precision every detail of his downfall,

                                        and then leave him

                                        naked, and vulnerable,

                                        just like the rest of us in the end.

(Note: the last photo is sculptor Ron Mueck working on another sculpture.)

Photographers - Part 58

Penis Shadows

Big Dude, who follows my blog, appreciates penis shadows, so that's the subject of today's post.  Big Dude, this post is for you.

I've shown some in the past, like Pleasant Shadow by Giovanni dall'Orto, 2017, above.

Here's another one that I've already shown: Cock Shadow by Florian Hetz, but it bears repeating.  It looks like a silhouette of the guy's penis, but it's a shadow on his thigh.

The rest of the photos are ones I haven't shown before.  This is Shadow Man by Ant Smith.  It also looks like a silhouette, but it's a shadow on the tile wall.

In my post on photographer Sasha Kargaltsev, I showed his photo of a man on a rooftop making huge bubbles.  Here's another photo of the bubble man, with a bonus for Big Dude.

This is Keith at the Piers by Stanley Stellar. 

Shadow Play by David Lebe, 1990.

Another photo by Giovanni dall'Orto: Beautiful Spectre, 2017.

Inspired by Antinoos by Harald Seiwert, featuring model Jånne.  Seiwert often does photo manipulation on his photos, such as removing the model's arms here to emulate a famous 2nd century statue of Antinous, a youth who was the lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian.  I think the penis shadow was in the original photo, not manipulated.

Assateague Island National Seashore by Jeff Seujamb, 2020.

Nu au Baton, Brazil, 1960-1965 by Konrad Helbig.

We end with some anti-shadows: a shadow pattern made by the railing on Westminster Bridge, London.