Vintage Military - Part 70

Narcyz Witczak-Witaczyński, part 2

Today we see more photos by Polish photojournalist and cavalry officer Narcyz Witczak-Witaczyński documenting the Polish cavalry between World War I and World War II.

Above, soldiers of the Presidential Commonwealth Squadron in connection with summer horse grazing take a dip in the Lasomin area, 1924.

More soldiers of the Presidential Commonwealth Squadron in connection with summer horse grazing in the Lasomin area, 1924.

A group of bathing lancers on an islet in Lasomin, 1925.

On a meadow and in the river in Lasomin, 1925.

School of Professional Cavalry, 1927.

Recruits in the 1st Cavalry Regiment being examined in the barracks at 29 Listopada Street in Warsaw, 1928.

The Bzurze-Szwoleżerów Regiment, 1929.

Machine gun squadron bathing, 1932.

Machine gun squadron dressing after bathing, 1932.

Uhlans showering, 1935.  Uhlans were a type of light cavalry armed with a lance.

Recruitment & Conscription Committee in Garwolin, 1937.

Recruitment Committee, 1939.

Of course, the Polish cavalry was no match for the Nazi tanks that overran Poland in 1939 to start World War II.  After Germany took over, Witczak-Witaczyński created a resistance organization of which he was head of counterintelligence and editor of an underground magazine.  He was arrested by the Nazis and died in a concentration camp in 1943.

Events - Part 67

 Mardi Gras

Today is Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday).  Of course, Mardi Gras is celebrated in New Orleans, but it's also celebrated around the world.  The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia has become one of the largest LGBT festivals in the world, attended by hundreds of thousands of people.

Today we'll look at an "art installation" by Spencer Tunick at the Sydney Opera House on March 1, 2010 that was part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.  Above, a poster for the event.

Spencer Tunick's "art installations" always involve a mass of naked people.  Here's one of the participants on the Opera House steps.  He must have arrived way before everybody else, because eventually there was a huge crowd.

Here's Spencer Tunick, clothed, talking to one of the participants.

Participants start to take their places on the Opera House steps.

Eventually a crowd of 5200 people showed up and got naked.  This was more than twice the expected number of participants.  Above, the iconic Sydney Opera House in the background with the participants, who have been directed to stand at attention.

Now the participants have been directed to raise their arms.

And now they have all been directed to lie down.

Because of the size of the crowd, not everybody could get inside, but some of the participants got to go into the Opera House and were seated.

And then they all headed home, having been part of a memorable experience.

Performers - Part 64

Kip Behar

Another bodybuilder who was also an actor was Kip Behar.  Born in 1936, he "starred" in the 1963 movie Beauty and the Body, in which he was the Body (that's him wearing the black briefs).  Hardly the "excitement of a lifetime" that the poster above claims, it was actually a forgettable documentary on beauty contests and other events.  He also had a bit part in the 1953 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  If you look at the clip of Jane Russell's song from that movie in my last Performers post about John Weidemann, Kip is one of the athletes, but I can't tell which one.

Kip also had bit parts in a couple of other movies, and he appeared as a bodybuilder in Mae West's Las Vegas stage review.

Kip posed nude in the 1950s for several physique photographers.  Above, a photo by Pat Milo.  At the time, Kip had a distinctive flat-top haircut.

A rear view by Bruce of L.A.

Another shot by Bruce of L.A., with Kip holding what appears to be a sword.

A photo of Kip, photographer unknown.

Kip was in at least two homoerotic films made by early gay filmmakers.  The photo above was said to be by Bob Mizer, showing Don Fuller, standing, and Kip Behar, sitting, in a film They Went Thataway in the late 1950s, presumably from AMG.  I have been unable to find anything else about this film.

Here's another photo of Don Fuller, left and Kip Behar on the set of that film.  In films of that era, they would have worn posing straps in the film, with no frontal nudity, but nude photos could have been taken on the set.

I got this photo from Vintage Muscle Men.  Thanks, Jerry!  Jerry had tentatively attributed the photo to Chuck Renslow, but the rocks are recognizably identical to the previous photo.

Another gay film that Kip Behar and Don Fuller were in was A Date With the Boys, 1956, made by Richard Fontaine, a.k.a Apollo.  It's a movie about how physique photos are made, from the moment the models arrive to the final shot.  The gif above is from that film, showing how models are oiled before shooting begins.

I got the remaining 5 photos of Kip from Vintage Muscle Men, which  has run several posts on Kip Behar.  Thanks, Jerry!

Above, a photo of Kip by Chuck Renslow of Kris Studio.

A photo of Kip by Richard Fontaine, a.k.a. Apollo.

The next three photos are by Pat Milo, who took more nude photos of Kip than anyone else.  Here's another front view ...

another rear view ...

and my favorite photo of Kip Behar, showing him next to a wicker chair.  I think this captures that era perfectly.

Kip was gay, and he had affairs with Rock Hudson (right) and Hudson's manager Henry Willson (left).  In those days you did not publicly admit that you were gay.  Rock Hudson managed to have a stellar movie career while pretending to be straight, until he came down with AIDS, came out as gay in 1984, and died later that year.

Kip Behar escaped AIDS and is apparently still alive and 88 years old.

Photographers - Part 65

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Calendars - Part 65

Železničar Cave Club Calendar 2008

Peter Gedei is a photographer in Ljubljana, Slovenia.  After spending several years as an explorer of the subterranean world, in the early 1990s he began devoting his attention to cave photography, and he is now considered one of the best cave photographers in the world.  His website https://petergedei.com has hundreds of his cave photographs, with all of the cavers fully clothed.

But for 2008 he produced a calendar of photos of naked cavers.  The title Jamarski Klub Železničar means Železničar Cave Club.

The calendar featured both male and female cavers.  We'll look at the guys.  Here's Mr.  January climbing a wall of ice.

Mr. March is drilling for something.

Mr. May.  The stalactites look delicate, but the stalagmites have more suggestive shapes.

Mr.  July appears to be thinking.

Mr. September.  I think he's taking a picture.

And last, Mr. December with his headlamp.