Estonian Photos - Part 52

Estonian Photos

We continue our series of photos from the Tartu Ülikooli museum of anthropology in Estonia.

I am presenting the photos in reverse chronological order; that is, each new post has photos earlier in the sequence.  Most of the later photos show a front view, rear view, and side view of two men.  At this earlier point in the sequence, they were only photographing a front view and a side view of a single man.

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 at the University of Tartu.  In particular, it does not say who these men are, or when or why the photos were taken.  However, the photos are labeled "Füüsilise antropoloogia pildistus" (physical anthropology photography).

Who are these men?  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.

When were the photos taken?  My best guess is 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 two previous batches, 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 wristwatches 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.

Some of the men in this series have darker faces and hands.  Are they tanned from working outside like farmers, or are they dirty from some dirty occupation?  We don't know.

Although these appear to be military recruits, these are probably not 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?

I believe the photos were taken by academics doing a study of physical anthropology.

Scientists at the Institute of Anatomy were trying 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.

Later photos in this series each contain a pair of men.  A question that perennially arose: why were the men photographed in pairs?  Was it to save film?

The answer is that these photos were made on glass plates, not film, but glass plates 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.

But these earlier photos are of individual men.  The idea of photographing the men in pairs to save on glass plates must have occurred to someone later in the project, after these photos were taken.

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 a study of physical anthropology.

Not the Same Old Song - Part 83

 One Call Away

One Call Away is a 2015 song by Charlie Puth.  My interpretation of it refers to our brave firefighters, who are only one call away.  And some of them are also unashamed.

Vintage Military - Part 106

Frank Bond

Frank Bond served in the Army Air Corps in a combat photography unit in World War II.  In 1944 he was assigned to the 40th Reconnaissance Squadron, stationed near Calcutta, India, where he specialized in development of aerial photography film.

But Frank also took lots of photos of street life around Calcutta and life at the base where he was stationed.  Aside from some photos of naked street urchins, the only nude photos that he took were self-portraits.  Above, "Rolling Out in the Morning", 1944.

In 1945 the unit moved to Akyab Island on the coast of Burma.  Burma had been occupied by the Japanese and the Allies were fighting to retake it.  Again, Frank photographed many Burmese street scenes, but the only nudes were self-portraits.  Above, Frank in the showers of the 40th photo squadron, and there's another naked guy on the left.

Frank labeled this self-portrait "New Air Force uniform for summer heat."

In the spring of 1945, Frank was assigned to a special photographic mission to accompany British troops as they entered Rangoon.  This photo from May, 1945 shows Frank in the street, which is littered with money.  What's going on?  The money was Japanese occupation currency, which was worthless now that the city had been freed from Japanese occupation.

After the war, Frank returned to Maine, where he became president and lifetime-vice-president of the New England Camera Club Council.  He died in 2007 at age 90.

Bodybuilders - Part 43

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Olympics - Part 25

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Performers - Part 91

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Photographers - Part 91

Robert Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989) was an iconic photographer of male nudes.  At the start of his career in 1973, people received an invitation to Mapplethorpe's first show of his Polaroid photos in the back room of New York's LIGHT gallery.  When they opened the invitation, they saw the photo above with an adhesive dot.

And when they removed the dot, they saw this self-portrait of Mapplethorpe with his camera.

Here's another 1973 Mapplethorpe self-portrait.

If you want to know what the rest of Mapplethorpe looked like, here's a 1978 self-portrait with a whip up his butt.

Of course he didn't just take self-portraits.  This photo is called "John NYC", 1978.

Marcus Leatherdale, 1978.

Ron Sims, 1978.

Phillip, 1979.

Scott Daley, 1979.

Charles Bowman, 1980.

Dennis Speight, NYC, 1980.

Man in Polyester Suit, 1980.  The model is Milton Moore, Mapplethorpe's lover.  In 2015, this photo sold at auction for $478,000.

Bob Love, NYC, 1981.

We end with Thomas, 1987, but there are hundreds more Mapplethorpe nude male photos.

Robert Mapplethorpe died of AIDS in 1989 at age 42.