Protests - Part 3

West Berlin

In West Berlin in the late 1970s and early 1980s, housing was scarce, and when the city began demolishing deteriorating buildings, some citizens protested by becoming squatters in the buildings and demanding that the buildings be repaired rather than demolished.  The movement supporting this was called "Tu wat" or "Tuwat" (slang for "do something").  On Sept. 5, 1981, these Tuwat protesters took to the streets.

Like other protesters before and after, some of them drew attention to their cause by marching naked.

The protest included men, women and children.

But these kids seem less interested in the Tuwat cause and more interested in what these naked people are doing in the street.

Some Berlin protests were met with force by police, but apparently not this one.  Here a policeman is ignoring this protester holding a shopping bag.  Was he planning on doing a little naked shopping after the demonstration?  You know, the old "I don't have a thing to wear."

This weekly newspaper, which supported the Tuwat cause, sprang up in March, 1981 and disappeared at the end of the year.  We're glad that they decided to give front page coverage to this view of a naked protester hugging a police officer.  The officer doesn't seem to mind a bit.  Maybe he's thinking that after the demonstration, he and this protester might go and "do something".

Events - Part 4

Burning Man

Burning Man is an annual event focused on community, art, and self-expression.

It's held in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, a featureless playa (dry lake bed).  This guy seems to be embodying the self-expression principle.

Overnight, a tent city springs up consisting of hundreds of "camps".  The majority of participants are not nude, but the encouragement of self-expression means that the entire event is clothing-optional.

I have the feeling this camp may have a lot of members showing their members.

But everywhere in Burning Man, it's not unusual to see people wandering around casually naked, like these guys.

The principle of self-expression also includes any and all costumes.  This minimal costume is rather clever, because chipmunks are fond of nuts.

Art is everywhere at Burning Man.  Here, two guys are going one better on the art in the background by recreating Leonardo Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.

Another principle of the event is unconditional giving, like this facility offering free showers, a luxury in the desert.  Yes, it's outdoors where everyone can see.  Who cares?

However, I think this example of unconditional giving, a free public Fleshlight, was put up as a joke.

Various forms of entertainment are available.  Instead of a mechanized bull or bucking bronco ride, someone made a duck ride.

And, of course, you can always provide your own entertainment.

Each year, the event concludes with the spectacular burning of a giant wooden man (hence the name Burning Man) and other temporary artworks.  Another principle of the event is Leave No Trace.  The camps pack up and the crowds depart, and the desert is again featureless until next year.

College Athletes - Part 3

 More College Athletes

Here are more photos of college athletes from the LIFE magazine photography archive.  None of these photos were published in the magazine.

This photo of a guy standing naked at a window was part of a photo set called "Neb vs Iowa Football," taken in 1937 by Alfred Eisenstaedt.  The "See Nebraska play" poster suggests that he's on the Nebraska team.  We have no idea what he's doing, but whatever it was, we're glad he did it naked for Eisenstaedt to capture forever.

This is from the same 1937 "Neb vs Iowa Football" photo set by Eisenstaedt.  Players are changing clothes, and on the extreme right (click to enlarge), one guy is weighing himself naked.

This is from a 1953 photo set by Francis Miller called "One Platoon Football," about a college football rule change requiring players to play both offense and defense.  The corresponding article, published in the May 11, 1953 issue of LIFE, featured University of Wisconsin star quarterback Jim Haluska (above).  If you look closely (again, click to enlarge), his balls are hanging out.  Oops!  They didn't publish this photo in the article.  Instead, they used an almost identical one that didn't display the family jewels.

This 1954 photo by John Dominis is from a set called "Purdue Football Game."  In many ways we have progressed since the 1950s, but our attitude toward nudity is not one of them.  Look how relaxed and casual these guys are about being naked around each other.

We close with a 1952 photo by Mark Kauffman from a photo set called "Univ. of Md vs Navy Lacrosse."  Judging from the paneled door in the background, this doesn't look like a locker room, and the guy is holding a ladle that might be appropriate for a punchbowl.  Are they having a post-game party?  If so, it looks like quite a wild party.  Who knew that lacrosse players were such wild and crazy guys?

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day

For St. Patrick's Day, here are some unashamed Irishmen.

We start with Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, taking a naked selfie in the mirror with his camera in 1910.

Our other Irishmen are more modern.  This is Irish mixed-martial-arts fighter Conor McGregor, photographed by ESPN.

Irish actor Colin Ferrell in the film Triage.

Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is perhaps best known for playing Henry VIII in the Showtime TV series The Tudors.  Here he is in the movie Tangled (2001), not, obviously, the Disney movie of the same name.

Ireland has its share of naked calendars.  This is from the Kilmacanogue GAA Club 2021 calendar.  GAA stands for Gaelic Athletic Association.

And these lads are in the University College Dublin 2016 calendar.

The Irish Field asked "Can you identify these County Kerry footballers by their arses?"  Sorry, I'd have to get to know them a little better to be able to do that.

OK, he's not Irish.  This is from Chillipie, an Italian clothing company.  But today, we all get to be a little Irish through "the wearing of the green."  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Poem of the Day - Part 7

 Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns, hot cross buns!

One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!

If you have no daughters, give them to your sons;

One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns!

(English nursery rhyme.  These hot buns belong to some American soldiers in Sened, Tunisia in World War II, photographed in 1943 by LIFE photographer Eliot Elisofon.)

Roman Emperors - Part 3

 Titus to Trajan

Today is the Ides of March, when Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC to prevent him from becoming Emperor.  We've already covered Caesar and his immediate successors in part 1 of this series.  Today we present some more nude Roman emperors.

Titus was the 10th emperor, the son of the emperor Vespatian.  Before becoming emperor, Titus won renown as a military commander in the Great Jewish Revolt against the Romans.  Titus besieged and captured Jerusalem in 70 AD and destroyed the Second Temple, the Jews' holiest site, which to this day has never been rebuilt.  We may think of this as a bad thing, but to the Romans, it was cause for celebration, and the Arch of Titus in Rome still stands, commemorating Titus' victory over the Jews.

Titus only ruled for two years before dying of a fever.  This statue of Titus, dating from 79-81 AD, is in the Vatican Museums.

Titus was succeeded by his brother Domitian.  His contemporaries portrayed him as a cruel tyrant, but some modern historians say that, although he was an autocrat, he nevertheless ruled Rome well for 15 years.

This statue depicts Domitian as a prince, before he became Emperor.  It dates from 70-80 AD and is in the Glyptothek museum in Munich, Germany.

Domitian was assassinated in 96 AD, succeeded by Nerva, who ruled for only a year, who in turn was succeeded by his son ...

Trajan (above).  Trajan had a long and successful rule.  Through military conquest, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, but he also implemented projects for extensive public building and social welfare for the poor, resulting in his reputation as one of the good emperors.

This statue of Trajan in the Altes Museum, Berlin, dates from the early second century.

Finally, we have this modern statue called Trajan and the She-Wolf in Bucharest, Romania, made by sculptor Vasile Gorduz in 2012.  It commemorates the Roman heritage of Romania, because Trajan added Dacia (now Romania) to the Roman empire.  To this day Romanians speak a language based on Latin, like Italian or Spanish, and the very name of their country proclaims that they are Roman.

The she-wolf is an emblem of Rome because of the legend that Rome's founders, Romulus and Remus, were suckled as infants by a she-wolf.  The statue drew immediate criticism and ridicule, partly because Trajan is nude (although, as we know, there's a fine old tradition of nude statues), partly because the wolf seems to be levitating, unsupported by Trajan's hands, and partly because of the strange snake-like thing coming out of the wolf's neck.  What can I say?  It's art, and it's not often that anyone celebrates a Roman emperor these days.

Photographers - Part 4

 John Dugdale

John Dugdale was born in 1960 and is still alive.  What is fascinating is that his best work was done after he went blind.  How is that possible?  Read on.

He embarked on a successful career in commercial photography, photographing things like cashmere and china and glassware, which was lucrative but not soul-satisfying.  In his few non-commercial photos, he often featured male nudes, like Joao II Sitting, 1991 (above).  For Dugdale, a revealing photo meant ridding the self of clothes.  “Life is transient,” he said.  "Once you leave this world, you fly into the universe without clothes. I want people to learn you cannot protect yourself by hiding behind clothes.”

He bought a house in rural update New York, which became his retreat.  His obsession was to restore it to its original 19th century state, a time period that he loves.   Maurice Sendak, the children's book author, became Dugdale's friend and a father-figure to him.  Sendak collected his photos, including this one from 1993, Kneeling male nude and seated woman, now in the Metropolitan Museum collection in New York.  It is one of a series featuring a naked man along with clothed men and women dressed in Victorian costumes – which of course would never have happened, so these photos are fantasies, but they are in tune with Dugdale's love of the 19th century.

Dugdale is gay.  Sometime in the 1980s he contracted HIV.  In 1993 he became completely blind in his right eye and lost 80% of the vision in his left eye due to an HIV-related disease.  He also suffered a series of strokes that left him paralyzed, and he was hospitalized for a year.  New AIDS drugs came out just in time, and he survived, but his life was changed.

He taught himself to walk again and decided to switch to art photography, exploring 19th century techniques and using an antique large-format camera.  He also switched his development process to cyanotype and platinum prints, particularly because he hated the toxic chemicals from his AIDS treatments, and cyanotype (the process used for blueprints) uses only non-toxic chemicals (iron salts).  

His vintage full-format camera has a huge 11x14-inch ground glass viewfinder at the back.  He was still able to see enough of the image to work, though he had to ask an assistant to focus the image to make sure it was sharp.  Later, as his remaining sight disappeared, he asked the assistant to move his (Dugdale’s) finger on the viewfinder screen to trace the outlines of the photo subjects, and in that way he could still “see” the subjects and tell them to move until the image was what he wanted. Above is a cyanotype called A Turbulent Dream, 1996.  More often than not, his subjects were male nudes, and often he  himself was the model.

I Could Not See to See, 1994 (above) is a platinum print, made using another vintage process.  The title comes from a poem I heard a Fly buzz by Emily Dickenson.  Dugdale told the story behind this photo:

So this fellow came over, beautiful, sculptural body, just what you would want for a photograph. … I took a number of pictures of him, and he was kind of blank and I was kind of blank, and I can tell these are just going to look like art porn pictures, which I never let go out of here…. I said, "Listen I don't even know you but I've got this long shutter release, could I come and sit in between your legs?”

So, we—he opened up his legs and I got in between, and put my back against his chest, and he put his arms around me. I put my head down, he put his head down on my neck, and I snapped the picture. That was the one piece of film that I had left, that I call I Could Not See to See.

And what I learned on that day, is that I had to rethink my idea about intimacy.

Sun God, 1997 (above) also has a fascinating story.  Dugdale was scheduled to speak at the University of Alabama.  He took this photo of his model Ivan and he thought "You know what, this is my David [referring to Michaelangelo's David], I'm going to put this in the slide carousel and bring it down to Alabama, and I'm going to show it during the talk where there was faculty and students.”  He went to Alabama to give his talk.  He described what happened:

Everything's pretty safe, then kaboom!, you know nine feet tall, this picture way in your face, but inarguably a beautiful classical figure study. There was nothing but silence and I thought, "Oh gosh, okay." There's mostly silence, I can really listen to the audience and hear murmurs, inhalations, exhalation. I can feel them leaning forward or leaning back. I can tell when they're getting restless, when they're feeling emotional. It's incredible, the energy that I can feel from people while we're experiencing the journey that I'm telling you about photographically.

And so it's all silence during Ivan's picture, and I was out in town the next day walking around and you know what? People kept approaching me, "Can I take you aside for a minute?" "Do you have any idea how grateful I am that you showed that picture yesterday?" "We don't get to see stuff like that, in that room very often; we're so thrilled." Teachers, women, men teachers, young men, young women, all races, and I thought, "Oh you know what, I did the right thing." You know, it was so nice to bring that to them. And I also thought I should get off the street in case anyone was going to take a pot shot at me with a gun. You know I felt very uncomfortable, but I guess it was all a bit of activism on my part.

This is In the shadow of his beloved, 2000.  Dugdale is a master of double exposures.  Here the standing figure is ghostly – you can see through him – but you can't see through the seated figure (who I think is Dugdale himself; many of his photos are self-portraits).

Finally, this is Smile, for your lover comes, 2000.  One is tempted to feel sorry for Dugdale because he's blind, but Dugdale is not sorry for himself.  Going blind forced him to give up an unsatisfying commercial career, and it made him concentrate on what he loves.  "The mind is the essence of your sight," he says.  "It's really the mind that sees."