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.

Calendars - Part 92

King's College Rugby Calendar 2015 

These images are from the King's College, London, 2015 rugby calendar.  The gallery of images had no indication of which image went with which month.

Like most British nude calendars, the proceeds went to charity, in this case, Broken Rainbow UK, an organization that helps victims of LGBT domestic violence.

Above, studying in a library.

The copper lion is Reggie, the college mascot.

A game of billiards.  Like most British nude calendars, frontal views are carefully blocked.

Relaxing at a bar.

This looks like a library hallway.

Locker room antics.

A class in human physiology?

The Round Reading Room, Maughan Library.

Going up?  Or perhaps a part of you is going up.

Relaxing in a formal setting.

Stairway to heaven.

School's out – kick up your heels.