Photographers - Part 88

Pat Milo

Pat Milo (1911-1969) was one of the most prolific photographers of the nude male.  Born James Patrick, he worked under the pseudonym Milo of Los Angeles.

I got this self-portrait of Pat Milo from Vintage Muscle Men.  Thanks, Jerry!  Vintage Muscle Men has posted over 300 Pat Milo photos.

Today I will feature some photos from an ad for a book of photos by Pat Milo, above.  I do not have the book, so I'm using photos from the ad.

The ad had photos of the partially-opened book, like the one above.  I was able to use Photoshop to straighten the images.  The left-hand pages were the worst, being more curved and some of them having colored reflections that I had to remove.  The right-hand pages just required minor adjustment.

Above is the result of my straightening an image of Don Hawksley from the ad (left) and the same photo that I found on Vintage Muscle Men (thanks, Jerry).

Here's another photo of Don Hawksley from the ad.

Robert Rex.  This is from the left-hand (curved) page of the photo of the book shown earlier.

Robert Rex from the right-hand page of the photo of the book.

Roger Conte.

Another photo of Roger Conte.

An unidentified model.

Roger Conte again, wearing a sailor's hat.  That looks like a doughnut, but it isn't.

Roger Conte.

Roger Conte with the doughnut-like object.

Jerry Bayless reading a magazine.

A black model, rare for Pat Milo.

John Manning.

Another photo of John Manning.

And here's the back cover of the book.

My thanks to Jerry at Vintage Muscle Men for helping identify several of the models in these photos.

Calendars - Part 89

SHU Rugby 2025

Every year, the rugby team at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) in England puts out a nude calendar.  Today we look at their 2025 calendar.  Like most British nude calendars, profits from the calendar go to charity.  In 2025, the profits from this calendar went to the Remarkable Ronnie campaign, supporting Ronnie, a child with severe disabilities including cerebral palsy, epilepsy and blindness.

The calendar features SHU rugby team players.  Here's Mr. March.

Messrs. April.

Messrs. June.

Mr. August.

Messrs. September.

There is also a "making of the calendar" series of photos that are not so carefully posed ...

like this "cover up" shot that doesn't quite cover up.

Protests - Part 88

 St. Peter's 2023

In June, 2023, a Polish man approached the high altar of St. Peter's at the Vatican, undressed, and jumped up onto the altar.

A close-up shot.  On his back is written his protest message "Save children in Ukraine."

I could only find censored frontal views of him.

The Vatican police apprehended him and handed him over to the Italian police, who issued an expulsion order requiring him to leave Italy.

Catholics condemned this incident as sacrilege.  The Vatican considered it a desecration of the high altar, and Cardinal Gambetti conducted a purification rite for the altar.

All I can say is, really?  Having a naked man on the altar desecrates it?  The Vatican is full of statues and paintings of naked men.  Above, this Vatican statue of the boxer Creugas isn't even an ancient statue.  It was made c. 1800.

And of course, the most famous Vatican naked artwork: Michelangelo's painting in the Sistine Chapel of God creating Adam.

So paintings and sculptures of naked males are fine, but an actual naked male is a sacrilege?  Let me propose a toast to Vatican hypocrisy (above).

Ivy League Posture Photos - Part 67

Ivy League Posture Photos

Yale started taking nude photos of incoming freshmen in 1919 as part of a program to detect and correct posture problems.  The Yale photos have erroneously been associated with William Sheldon, a psychologist at Harvard and author of Nazi-like eugenic theories who used Harvard nude posture photos to illustrate his theory of somatypes.  The Yale program predates Sheldon, and, as far as I can tell, the Yale photos were never connected to Sheldon's work.

Here are posture photos of seven more Yale students that I had the opportunity to acquire.

This is Yale freshman Michael J. McGuire on Oct. 7, 1953.

In 1952, Yale installed an apparatus using mirrors to photograph the front, rear, side and top view.

This is Yale freshman Edwin H. McKee on Oct. 7, 1953.

Note the strange pins stuck to each student's back and chest.  The pins were stuck on at specific points for later posture analysis.

This is Yale freshman A. M. on Oct. 7, 1953.

Supposedly, by examining the angles formed by connecting the points where the pins touched the body, certain posture problems could be detected.  If posture problems were detected, the student had to attend remedial posture sessions, and a second posture photo was taken.

This is Yale freshman Herbert Woodruff Bainton on Oct. 4, 1941.

Photos taken before the fall of 1952 show only a side view.

This is Yale freshman John Edward LeGros on Dec. 2, 1940.

Freshmen were told to report to Yale's Payne Whitney Gymnasium, and once there, they were told to strip.  The photography and analysis of the photos was conducted by the staff of the gymnasium.

This is Yale freshman Jmes Ralph Lengen on Oct. 2, 1940.

Nobody outside the gymnasium staff saw the photos.  The photos were not published for other students to see.

This is Yale freshman Edward Field Rullman on Oct. 3, 1940.

The posture photo program was discontinued in the 1960s, and later, most of the photos were burned.  However, some of the photos escaped burning, including the photos that I have been showing in this series.

*          *          *

Note: some of my followers consider these photos an invasion of privacy for the students.  To protect the privacy of the students, I redact the names of students who may still be alive.  I only publish the names of students who have died.  Legally, the right to privacy does not extend beyond death, i.e. it does not extend to spouses and relatives of the deceased person.

I consider these photos to be a historical record of the time.  Almost all of the Ivy League posture photos were burned when their existence became widely known.  In my opinion, that was akin to book-burning of books that someone claimed were obscene.  These photos are not obscene.  They should be celebrated, not hidden away.

Ads - Part 86

Deutsche Olympische SportBund

The Deutsche Olympische SportBund (German Olympic Sports Confederation) is a confederation of sports clubs in Germany, representing 90,000 sports clubs with 27 million members.

In 2007, they ran an ad campaign promoting fitness.  Above is one of the ads.  The ad says "Wer sich nicht bewegt, wird dick", which means "Those who don't move will become ..." 

"Dick" doesn't mean dick in German.  It means thick.  Well that wouldn't be so bad, to become thick.

Except in this context, "dick" means a thick body, i.e. fat.  So the ad means "Those who don't move will get fat."

And of course, here's the original statue of David by Michelangelo, before the statue got fat.

Weighing In - Part 88

Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson, born in 1966, is a famous American boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005.  He was the world heavyweight champion.  He came out of retirement to fight Jake Paul on Nov. 15, 2024 in Arlington, Texas.  Above, Tyson weighs in for that fight.  He did not weigh in nude.  Tyson was 58 years old and Jake Paul was 27.  After 8 rounds, Tyson lost the fight on points.

Although Tyson did not weigh in nude, Netflix viewers got to see this glimpse of Tyson's butt in the locker room before the fight, above.

We have some other nude shots of Tyson from much earlier in his career.  Above, dressing or undressing in the locker room.

Here he is with a towel, probably after a locker room shower.

And a slightly expanded view of Mike Tyson with a towel.

Events - Part 88

Fremont Solstice Parade 2017

Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, but since it was also Father's Day, we're running this solstice post a day late.  Every year, on the summer solstice, a parade is held in Fremont, Washington.  The parade is (unofficially) led by naked bike riders and walkers.  Most of them have colorfully painted their bodies.  The naked bikers and walkers are followed by the official parade of clothed marchers and parade floats.

Today's photos are from the 2017 Fremont Solstice Parade.  Above, his painted sign says "Be Happy".  Orange you glad?

This painted sign is as pertinent today as in 2017.

Painted gold.

Half and half.

A mask of leaves.

One of a group, all with painted red gymnast costumes.

Beware of the shark.

On skates being towed behind a bike.

Tiger stripes.

A formal tuxedo.  I'd love to see him show up like that at a black tie event.

A unicyclist walking his vehicle.

We end with silver and gold holding hands.  Awww ...