Vintage Athletes - Part 41

 Muybridge - Other Athletics

We continue our look at the stop-motion photography of Eadweard Muybridge, published in his 1887 book Animal Locomotion. Muybridge did his work at the University of Pennsylvania, and his subjects were mostly students, graduates, or teachers at the university.  Today we look at some more miscellaneous sports.

Each plate in Animal Locomotion consists of a series of photos taken at split-second intervals.  I made all of the gifs in this post from the photos on the plates.

Plate 308 shows Model 39, probably a Penn teacher, doing the Scottish hammer throw, an event that is part of the Highland Games.

Plate 309 shows model 35 doing the Scottish hammer throw.

Model 35 was George Brinton, a member of the Penn class of 1888, as shown in this 1888 group photo.  Brinton was remarkably athletic.  In state intercollegiate sports events, he won the 100-yard dash, the running broad jump, and the hammer throw.  In 1888 he threw the hammer 100 feet 9.5 inches, setting an intercollegiate record.

This is plate 310, showing model 68, Frank Gummey, demonstrating shot put.  Gummey was also quite an athlete.  He was in the Racket Club and on the tug-of-war, crew and football teams.  He won the 16-pound shot put throw with a throw of 30 feet 6 inches.

And this is plate 327, showing Frank Gummey rowing on a rowing machine.  He was a rowing enthusiast.  He was a member of the 4-oar shell crew and 8-oar shell crew, and he was captain of the Medical School crew when he was in medical school.

Here's Gummey as a senior at Penn in 1887.

Another athletic event was throwing an iron disk, captured on plate 307.  This doesn't look like a regulation discus, and he is not throwing it in the normal manner for a discus, which involves spinning around.  The model is Thomas Love Latta.

Here's Latta as a senior at Penn in 1887.  We've previously seen Muybridge plates showing Latta playing baseball and lifting weights.

Finally, here's plate 521 showing model 95, who is Muybridge himself, throwing a disk.  At first I thought he was spinning around, as discus throwers do, but on closer examination, the photos are taken from different angles, so he only appears to be spinning.

The Naked Farmer - Part 14

 Queensland

We continue our series of photos by Australia's Naked Farmer, Ben Brooksby, who posts photos of naked Australian farmers to get attention for his mission to promote mental health.

Today's photos are from the state of Queensland.  Above is Clifton with a sunflower, which should remind us to support the Ukrainians.  By the way, Ben posts his photos on Facebook, which doesn't allow male frontal nudity, so don't blame Ben for the modesty shots.

This photo, from Dirranbandi, Queensland, was labeled "Cockadoodledoo!"  

This one was called "Dipping it in," from Baking Board, Queensland.  Sounds hot.  Well, Queensland is in Australia's tropical north.

This guy on a dirt bike is in Roma, Queensland.

Fishing at Borumba Dam, Queensland.

This photo was just labeled "Floyd, Queensland."

Climbing the Fountain Springs waterfall in Mount Isa, Queensland.

Having a quick scrub up in Charters Towers, Queensland.

And finally, it wouldn't be Australia without beer.  These guys are in Goondiwindi, Queensland.  I love Australian place names.  Cheers, mate, and put your hats back on.

Hiking - Part 36

 Summer Solstice
World Naked Hiking Day

Today, the summer solstice, is World Naked Hiking Day.  Today's photos are all from the Appalachian Trail.  The trail extends nearly 2200 miles from Georgia to Maine.

This guy met a couple of naked hikers near the Georgia/North Carolina border who asked him to take their picture.

One quarter of the entire trail, 550 miles, is in Virginia.  The trail winds past small mountain communities.  These guys are at a shooting range near the trail in Virginia.

This is a first-time Appalachian Trail hiker in northern Virginia.  Nice view!

A hiker, northbound in northern Virginia in early spring.

The same hiker running southbound for the camera.  Most through-hikers start in Georgia and end in Maine to take advantage of the gradually warming season.  Hiking the entire trail typically takes 5 to 7 months.

Hikers in Vermont, hiking naked on the summer solstice.

A hiker cooling off in Loon Lake, Maine after hiking part of the trail.

We end with a couple of hikers at Blackrock Summit, Virginia, a side trail from the Appalachian Trail within Shenandoah National Park.  One of them crows "cock-a-doodle-doo", and then we hear someone (or something) responding.

Estonian Photos - Part 2

Estonian Photos

We continue our look at the Estonian photos.  These are probably military recruits from between World War I and World War II.  With hundreds of photos of nude young men, the Estonian photo collection could be a valuable resource for studies of physical attributes.  For example, the photo above demonstrates that penis size does not always correlate with height.  In fact, the museum that houses the photo collection files them under "Anthropology."

From their expressions, these guys are not thrilled with the process, especially #714.

The rear view of the same two guys.

And the side view.

A front view of two more recruits.  #717 looks bashful, and #718 has a vacant expression.

The rear view of the same two guys ...

and side view.

These guys seem more ambivalent about the process.

Here's the rear view of the same two.

And then, in the side view, #716 is actually smiling.  Maybe he's thinking that being in the army along with a bunch of naked guys might not be so bad.

I downloaded the hi-res version of this photo.  Click for a larger image.

Boys and Their Balls - Part 36

 Exercise Balls

Today we look at a kind of ball that's not used for playing a sport, but for working out.

It's known by many names: exercise ball, fitness ball, ...

gym ball, yoga ball, Swiss ball ...

and balance ball.  This balancing act is a bit extreme, and is presumably a trick photograph.   (Photo by David Vance.  We'll see more of his photos in a future post.)

It lends itself to all kinds of exercises, like this guy doing pushups ...

and this guy doing a kind of crunches, while his trainer is getting a bit, shall we say, hands-on.

It also lends itself to other kinds of exercise, like Pierce Paris and Shane Jackson are demonstrating ...

as are Hoytt Walker and Javier Cruz  ...

and Mickey Knox, Angel Cruz and Colby Chambers show that three can enjoy the benefits of this versatile piece of exercise equipment.

We end with an Australian guy using it in the pool and showing us that big balls are a lot of fun.

Fathers Day 2023

 Fathers Day

Previously, we saw some of the sculptures of Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland.  Two hundred of them adorn Oslo's Frogner Park.  All of them are nude.

Today, to celebrate Fathers Day, we look at a series of Vigeland's sculptures of fathers and sons.  Above, a father with his baby.

A father with his little boy.

A father with his son standing on his feet.

A father playing with his son by swinging him around.

A bigger boy getting a piggyback ride.

An older son looks troubled.  The father tries to comfort him.

A teenager has misbehaved and is being chastised by his father.

And finally, a father and his grown-up son, connecting as adults.

Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers (and daddies) out there!