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Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Estonian Photos - Part 14

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 either deeply tanned from working outside like farmers, or they are dirty from working in a place like a coal mine. Estonia doesn't have any coal mines, but it has oil shale mines, which would make the workers just as dirty.

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.

Another clue 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.

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 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.

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 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".

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Boys and their Balls - Part 48

NZ Nude Blacks vs Spanish Conquistadores

In 2011, the rugby World Cup matches were held in New Zealand.  Each time a match was held in the stadium in the town of Dunedin, New Zealand, the local lads held a naked pre-game match of their own, featuring their team, the Nude Blacks (New Zealand's official team is called the All Blacks).

On Sept. 14, a match was scheduled in Dunedin between England and Argentina.  The naked pre-game match on Sept. 10, between the Nude Blacks and a visiting team, the Conquistadores from Barcelona, Spain, drew a crowd of 1500 and a contingent of international media.

The Nude Blacks always begin the game with a haka, a traditional Maori chant in which the Nude Blacks taunt and insult the other side, led by their team captain, Devon Latoa (center).

Click on any of these photos to see a larger version.

Sticking out your tongue is traditional in the haka.

The visiting Spanish team was a women's team, and their response to the haka seems to have been to taunt the Nude Blacks with a red cloth, like a matador with a bull.

And here's the bull that they were taunting.

The Conquistadores try to tackle Devon Latoa as he runs, but he scores a try (the rugby equivalent of a touchdown in football).

The rules that they had agreed on were that every time the Nude Blacks scored, the Conquistadores had to remove an article of clothing.  In other words, it was a game of strip rugby.  If the Conquistadores scored, the Nude Blacks did not have to strip because they were already naked.

The Conquistadores stripped off their shorts to reveal pink under-shorts.  Above, they are tackling the Nude Blacks bull.

Here the Nude Blacks are performing a line-out, which happens when the ball has gone into touch (i.e. out of bounds).  The ball is thrown back in, and each team is allowed to hoist one player in the air, the thrower's team trying to catch the ball, and the other team trying to block it.

After the Nude Blacks scored again, the Conquistadores stripped off their shirts to revel pink T-shirts underneath.  Here two Conquistadores tackle Devon Latoa.  

A Nude Black tackles a Conquistador.

The Nude Blacks huddle.  They are scoring points, but the Conquistadores are much better than expected.  They are scoring a lot of points, too.

Time out for a naked policeman to remove a clothed streaker.

After the Nude Blacks scored again, the Conquistadores removed their pink T-shirts to reveal swimsuit tops underneath.

A Nude Black gets hoisted aloft for another line-out.

There was actually one man on the Conquistadores team (the guy at right) along with 6 women.  Evidently he started out with less clothing than the women, because by the end of the match he wasn't wearing very much.

To the shock of the Nude Blacks, the Conquistadores won, 25 to 20.  It was the first time in the nine years that they been playing that the Nude Blacks had lost a game.

Above, the Conquistadores with the traditional Nude Blacks victory trophy inscribed on a toilet seat.

Monday, March 25, 2024

Weighing In - Part 50

 Leigh Remedios

Leigh Remedios, born in 1976, is an English featherweight MMA fighter.  He fought from 1997 to 2005 and was considered #1 in the UK.  Leigh retired from MMA fighting in 2005 to teach jiujitsu, but he returned to the MMA circuit from 2008 to 2013.

In the video clip above, he weighs in for a 2003 fight against Victor Estrada at Hook n' Shoot in Evansville, Indiana, obviously not covering up.  Surprisingly, the nudity was shown on a Discovery Channel program in 2004.  The only copy of the clip that I can find is this one with Dutch subtitles, so it must have been broadcast in Holland.  I don't know if it was broadcast in the U.S.

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Poem of the Day - Part 49

There is no Frigate like a Book
by Emily Dickenson

This is one of Emily Dickenson's best known and most loved poems, about the joy of reading, and how books can take us to amazing places, real or imaginary.  It was originally in a letter that she wrote in 1873.

                                                There is no Frigate like a Book

(Alex Frost, who follows my blog, sent the photo of himself, above.  Thanks, Alex!)

                                                To take us Lands away

                                                Nor any Coursers like a page

                                                Of prancing Poetry –

                                                This Traverse may the poorest take

                                                Without oppress of Toll –

(A free public library)

                                                How frugal is the Chariot

                                                That bears the Human Soul –

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Photographers - Part 50

Chris Curreri

Chris Curreri, born in 1978, is a Canadian photographer and sculptor.

What on earth does the photograph above depict?  It's an extreme close-up of two men kissing, from his Kiss Portfolio series.

In another Kiss Portfolio photo, you can make out the tongues.

In the photo above, I'm not sure I can figure out what all the parts are.  The text that went with the exhibition of these photos said that viewers are tempted to see much more intimate poses and body parts than the ones that are actually shown.

A final shot from the Kiss Portfolio looks more like a recognizable kiss.

The photo above is from a different series called Puppet, with the model and piece of pottery in various poses.

Curreri is also a sculptor.  These pieces are from a 2017 series called Unruly Matter.

I have to say that they all remind me of the head of a penis emerging from a foreskin.

We end with Self-Portrait with Luis Jacob, 2022, featuring amazingly realistic life-size silicone sculptures of himself and his partner, Luis Jacob.  Here's the description in a gallery featuring this work:

Chris’s work Self Portrait with Luis Jacob is inspired by a photograph taken in 1974 by the filmmaker Rodney Werden.  Chris uses the same idea, but he transforms it, turning it into a life-size sculpture.  In the sculpture, there are two people inside a big glass box.  One person is sitting down, naked.  His eyes are covered by another person standing behind him.

This artwork plays around with the roles of photographer, model, and spectator.  The person in the chair is pressing the button to take the photo.  He is the photographer, but his eyes are covered.  The person covering his eyes is staring at the public observing  the artwork.  The camera is pointing at the public, too.  The box surrounding the figures has a mirror effect, so you can also see yourself observing.

The artwork asks, Who is looking at whom?

Friday, March 22, 2024

Not the Same Old Song - Part 43

 If I Only Had the Nerve

We've already seen If I Only Had a Brain and If I Only Had a Heart from The Wizard of Oz.  Here's my version of If I Only Had the Nerve, sung by the Cowardly Lion.

This one was a little tricky.  In the movie, this song has more than a bit of homophobia, talking about being a "sissy," and Burt Lahr does his version of a limp wrist in his lion costume to the words "I'm just a dandelion, a fate I don't deserve."  I replaced the words "a fate I don't deserve" with some other words ... you'll see.

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Artists - Part 53

 Michael Leonard

Michael Leonard was born in India in 1933 to British parents.  After World War II in 1945 he moved to England to complete his education.  He studied Commercial Design and Illustration and began working as a freelance illustrator for books, magazines, advertising and the press.  Above is a self-portrait from 1987.  It is incredibly detailed, looking like a photograph, but it's a painting.

Although he was a commercial illustrator, he had a desire to express a personal vision and make art for the wall, not the page.  He began doing paintings.  He painted a wide variety of subjects – portraits of friends, people with their dogs in the park, construction workers across the street from his studio – but the male nude was a recurring theme.  Above, Shawn with a White Cat, 1971.

More often, his figures are not resting but are doing something.  (Bathers with Yellow Towels, 1980)

His paintings also often look cropped, not focusing on the subject's face.  (Stooping Bather, 1980)

Sometimes he included a face ...  (Seated Nude, 1983)

and sometimes not. (White Socks, 1997)

Although these are nudes, the genitals may or may not be prominent.  (Stretch, 1998)

Bather Off Balance, 1998.

Bather with Intent, 2000-2001.  Again, note the photographic realism.

Pattern of Limbs, 2000-2001.

We end with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that Leonard was commissioned to paint by Reader's Digest in 1985 for her sixtieth birthday.  Again showing photographic realism, it is now in the permanent collection of Britain's National Portrait Gallery.

You can see more of Leonard's work on his website www.michaelleonardartist.com.