Photographers - Part 11

Laurence Le Guay

Laurence Le Guay (1916-1990) was an Australian photographer, pictured above as a war photographer in Sicily in 1943.  He was interested in photography from boyhood, and in 1937 he opened his own studio in Sydney.

His early work was somewhat surrealist and symbolic.  This untitled 1939 montage shows a nude man and woman, a child playing with toy soldiers, and a real soldier.  World War II had either just broken out or was about to break out.  Note that the nude man's genitals are not quite hidden by the soldier's rifle in this multiple exposure.

Le Guay and other leading Australian photographers formed the Contemporary Camera Groupe.  Among other things, they wanted to portray the sun-worshipping, healthy Australian body.  Above is Le Guay's 1940 Australian version of the discus thrower, on the beach, of course.

Then in 1940, Le Guay enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force, where he served with RAAF units in the Mediterranean as  a photographer.  This photo in El Daba, Egypt was taken on Christmas day, 1943.  The photo caption is: "Sergeant Alan H. Little, Electrician, a member of No. 451 (Spitfire) Squadron RAAF, makes use of a tub of water for a bath."

In July, 1943, Le Guay traveled from North Africa to Malta, which had resisted Nazi attacks and was still in British hands.  The photo caption is: "Members of the Desert Harassers No. 450 (Kittyhawk) Squadron RAAF enjoying the water spray used for cooling off and showers on deck on the transport ship, during the crossing of the Mediterranean to Malta."

That same month, the Allies invaded Sicily, the first step in recapturing Europe.  The invasion was supported by air cover from Malta.  The caption on this July 1943 photo is: "Sicily, Italy. Naked members of a RAAF Fighter Bomber Squadron stand in a well or trough and use a bucket to pour water over them for bathing."

Then mainland Italy was invaded.  The location for this 1944 photo is only given as Italy.  The caption is: "Flight Sergeant E. A. Walker of Minyip, Vic, assists his friend to take a 'home made' shower."

The island of Corsica is part of France, but it had been occupied by Italian and German troops.  It was liberated in late 1943.  This photo from Poretta, Corsica in April, 1944 is captioned: "Flight Sergeant R. F. Sheppard of Adelaide, SA makes use of a stream in the vicinity of the camp to do some washing."

After the war, Le Guay set up a new studio in Sydney and founded the Australian photographic magazine Contemporary Photography.  Through the 50s and 60s he was the leading fashion photographer in Sydney and became known internationally.

Boys and Their Balls - Part 9

Sandbach Rugby Club

Rugby players have a reputation for getting naked, and not just in the locker room.  After viewing this video, you'll see why.  It's from an episode of a 2007 British TV series called Generation Xcess that showed, among other things, some of the antics of a rugby team in Sandbach, England, off the field. They followed the team through a pub crawl as they got progressively more drunk and more naked.

British TV doesn't censor nudity, even frontal nudity, although they blurred some bits at the end where teammates were giving each other public handjobs.

One amusing aspect of the story is how the guys seem to think think that getting naked will impress the girls, while the girls clearly think it's gross.  Ultimately, the guys are getting naked for each other.

I edited this down to the most revealing parts (in more ways than one) from a much longer program.  It's 5 minutes long, but I think you'll like it.

Weighing In - Part 12

Dan Murray

There appear to be several boxers named Dan Murray.  This one, born in 1991, also goes by Danny Murray and Danny Boy Murray.  He is an American super lightweight boxer currently living in New Jersey.  The video is from his weigh-in on July 29, 2017 for a fight against Kenny Robles in Brooklyn (Murray won).  Like our last weigh-in video, Murray steps out from behind the towel before putting his shorts back on.  We get a fleeting frontal glimpse.

Calendars - Part 11

Amsterdam Lowlanders 2020

Here's another naked calendar from the Amsterdam Lowlanders, the gay rugby club in Amsterdam.

The photos were taken by Henri Verhoef at the Allard Pierson Museum, the archaeological museum of the University of Amsterdam.

The 2020 theme was diversity and lack of body shaming.  This calendar did not just feature buff, white athletes with perfect bodies.  The club welcomes all, black ...

white ...

Asian ...

thin ...

fat ...

fatter ...

gay or straight.  Though it's a gay club, they welcome straight men, too.  And no, I don't know the orientation of any of the guys in these photos.

By the way, I don't know what the white paint on the bodies was all about.  One website suggested that it was to visually connect the athletes' bodies to the museum's sculptures, but I never would have guessed that.

In any case, kudos to the Amsterdam Lowlanders for the message of inclusiveness and body positivity.

Larry's Fairy Tales - Part 9

Hansel and Gretel

This version of Hansel and Gretel departs quite a bit from the original fairy tale, but hey, it's my version, so I get to do what I want.

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Hansel who lived with his parents in a little cottage next to a great forest.  His parents told him never to go into the forest, because an evil wizard lived there with terrible powers who would cook you and eat you.

When Hansel was 18 years old, his parents told him that he had to get married, because they were too poor to keep supporting him.  But Hansel didn't like any of the girls in the nearby village.  In fact, he didn't like girls at all.

One day, his father told him that he had arranged for Hansel to marry a woman in the village named Gretel, and that the marriage would happen tomorrow.

     "Gretel?" said Hansel.  "That ugly old woman?  I can't marry Gretel."

     "You had your chance to marry a pretty young girl, and you didn't," said his father.  "Now you'll do as I say.  Gretel is rich, and the marriage is all arranged."

(Painting: The Ugly Duchess by Quentin Matsys, 1513)

Hansel said he would run away.  To keep him from doing that, his father took away all of Hansel's clothes that night and locked them up.  That didn't stop Hansel.  Early the next morning, he took some bread and cheese and ran, naked, into the great forest.

Soon the path disappeared, but Hansel wandered farther and farther.

By the time it got dark, Hansel climbed atop a rock outcrop to try to keep away from the wild animals.  He had eaten up the bread and cheese, and he spent a miserable cold night.

The next morning, from the rock, Hansel saw a house in the distance.

By noon he reached the house.  "Wow," said Hansel.  "A gingerbread house!  I've never seen so much gingerbread on a house."  Nobody answered the door, so Hansel walked around back.

Behind a shed, he found a man taking a shower.

     "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain," said the man.

     "Who are you?" asked Hansel.

     "I am the wizard.  Who are you?"

     "I'm Hansel.  Please don't cook me and eat me."

     "Cook you?  Why would I do that?"

     "My parents said you cook people and eat them."

     "Oh, that.  That's just a rumor I started to keep nosy people away so they don't bother me."

     "Oh.  I'm sorry.  I'll go away ... except, may I have something to eat first?  I haven't eaten since yesterday."

     "Of course, where are my manners?" said the wizard, looking at Hansel.  "Well, handsome, I mean Hansel, come inside."

They went inside the house, and the wizard prepared food and drink.  As Hansel was eating, the wizard said, "Let me consult the Tarot and see what we're going to do about you."

     He took out his deck of Tarot cards, shuffled them, and pulled out The Fool.  Hansel had never seen any cards like this.

     "That doesn't mean you're a fool," said the wizard.  "It means the start of a journey."

     "Yes, I've been traveling for two days."

The next card he pulled out was The Hermit.  "You're trying to get away from something."

     "Yes.  I ran away because my father was going to force me to marry an ugly old woman.  I don't want to get married."

     "A good-looking young man like you must have a girlfriend."

     "No.  I don't like girls."

The next card was The World.  "That signifies the end of a journey," said the wizard.  "You've reached the end of your journey right here."

He pulled out the next card, The Lovers.  Hansel had never seen a picture like this of two men as lovers. "This is what awaits you at the end of your journey," said the wizard.

     "Am I one of the lovers?" asked Hansel.

     "Yes.  What do you think about that?"

     "It looks exciting.  I like these cards.  Who is the other man?"

     "Well, let's see if the cards will tell us."

He pulled out The Magician.  "That would be me.  The Tarot says you're going to live with me and be my lover.  Would you like that?"

     Hansel grinned.  "Yes, I'd like that very much.  Will you teach me tricks, like how to pull the card you want out of the deck?"

     "I knew you weren't a fool.  Well, first there are a few tricks I want to teach you in bed."

      And they lived happily every after.

*          *          *

Notes

1. It's a tale about wizardry, so I used a little Photoshop magic of my own.  I added both the gingerbread house and Hansel into the photo of the house, and I added Hansel into the photo of the guy taking a shower.

2. I'm certainly no Tarot expert, but from what I've read, the cards can actually be interpreted as related here, e.g. the Fool means the start of a journey, etc.  Of course, these cards, by St. Jinx, are no ordinary Tarot cards.

Performers - Part 11

Zachary Stains

More naked opera.  In the 2006 staging of Vivaldi's opera Ercole su'l Termodonte at the Spoleto Festival in Italy, the hero of the opera, Hercules, played by tenor Zachary Stains, is naked onstage for much of the opera.

The opera itself is pretty silly.  The plot is based on the ninth labor of Hercules, except in this version Hercules has to get the sword of the queen of the Amazons, not her girdle.  Hercules is accompanied by three other men, and at the end, two of the men marry two of the Amazon queen's daughters and everyone is happy.  (In the original myth, Hercules is alone and the queen gets killed.)

When the opera was written in 1723, the Pope had forbidden women on the stage, so the female roles were played by castrati, men who had been castrated before puberty so they retained their soprano voices but had the lung power of grown men.  Apparently the Pope was just fine with the practice of castrating boys, but having women onstage was shocking and unthinkable.

Zachary Stains' costume consists of just a lion skin, which is how Hercules was portrayed in ancient art, attached to a cloak, and the costume doesn't cover up much, as you can see here.

But just in case you didn't get a good enough view, at one point, Stains takes off the cloak and lion skin and sings an aria buck naked.  One wonders whether Stains was hired for this opera for his voice (which is very good) or for his body.

Here's that scene.  If the music sounds like a florid exercise in singing as many notes as possible, well, that was Vivaldi's style.  Personally, I love classical music, but I don't particularly love Vivaldi.  But with the eye candy in this performance, you don't need to love the music.

Poem of the Day - Part 15

 There is no Frigate Like a Book

by Emily Dickenson

The illustrations are bookplates created for those who wanted a picture of a naked man inside all of their books.

                There is no Frigate like a Book
                To take us Lands away

                Nor any Coursers like a Page

                Of prancing Poetry –

                This traverse may the poorest take

                Without oppress of Toll –

                How frugal is the Chariot

                That bears the Human Soul