Photographers - Part 90

Danny Fitzgerald

Danny Fitzgerald (1921-2000) was a Brooklyn-based photographer whose work was ahead of his time.  In the 1940s and 1950s he started by photographing scenes of everyday life, with some shirtless subjects,  but no nudes.

Then, in 1958, Richard Bennett (above) moved to New York to become an actor/model.  He sent his portfolio to Danny, who invited him to do a photo shoot.  The two became lovers and stayed together until Danny's death in 2000.

Richard also became Danny's business partner.  They called their photography studio "Les Demi Dieux", which means "The Demigods" in French, and Danny started photographing nude men.  Above, Richard Bennett.

They published photos in many of the gay physique magazines of the time.  Above, Richard Bennett.

Danny's photography took a more artistic approach to male physique photography than most other physique photographers.  He also used outdoor locations for many of his photos.  Above, Richard Bennett.

Richard Bennett was not the only model he photographed.  Above, Tommy, 1964.

Orest Daszo, Smoking, 1960.

Swim Hole, New York, 1964.

We end with an unnamed model sporting angel wings in a cemetery.

Les Demi Dieux was active only from 1958 to 1968, and after that Danny Fitzgerald stopped taking nude male photographs.  The reason is unknown, but perhaps after the courts legalized full frontal male nudity in the late 1960s, Danny may have thought that his carefully composed works wouldn't sell in the flood of cheaply produced gay porn that followed.

Danny Fitzgerald died in 2000 without ever having exhibited his works in a gallery.

Photographers - Part 89

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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.

Mike Dunn (thanks to my reader vintage fan 1952 for the identification).

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.

Photographers - Part 87

Dave Martin

Dave Martin (1923-2014) was one of the most important photographers of the male nude.  Born in Pennsylvania, he moved to the West Coast after World War II, taught himself photography, and began photographing male nudes in the late 1940s.  He had a studio in San Francisco from 1952 to 1974.  His favorite models were college athletes and military men. 

He produced hundreds of photos of nude men.  Today we are going to look at a few taken at one of his favorite locations, Baker Beach in San Francisco, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.  This is Paul Dixon.

A second photo of Paul Dixon.

And a third photo of Paul Dixon.  I got this photo and the following photos from Vintage Muscle Men, which over the years has featured some 400 photos by Dave Martin.  Thanks, Jerry!

This is Roy Lang at the iconic Baker Beach location.

A second photo of Roy Lang.

And a third.  You can barely see the bridge in the background.

We end with a rear view.  The model was not identified, but it may be Roy Lang.

Photographers - Part 86

Vincenzo Galdi

Vincenzo Galdi (1871-1961) was an Italian art student whom German photographer Wilhelm von Pluschow took as his photography mentor and probably his lover.  Above, a photo of Galdi taken by von Pluschow in 1890, when Galdi was 19.

Galdi opened his own photography studio in Rome and continued to collaborate with von Pluschow.  Galdi took many nude photos, both male and female.  Above, Four Male Nudes, c. 1905.

But Galdi's work became increasingly explicit.  He was the first photographer in Italy to publish photos of men with erections.

He also published photos of couples having sex, both straight and gay.  The photo above is merely suggestive.

This one takes it a little further, kissing and touching each other.

Even further.

About to do it ...

and doing it.  This photo was probably hand-colored.

So, Vincenzo Galdi was one of the first porn photographers.

In 1902, von Pluschow was convicted of "seduction of minors" and spent eight months in jail.  Galdi may have been arrested and sentenced in 1907 for "outraging public morals" with his photographs, and the police closed both von Pluschow's and Galdi's studios.  Galdi then abandoned photography and became an art dealer until his death in 1961.