Wyngate & Bevins Day

It's time for another series featuring those clever fellows who found a way around the obscenity laws in the mid-1960s, Wyngate & Bevins.  Their device was to falsely describe their photos as nudists, which had been declared legal in certain circumstances by a Federal appellate court.  By sifting through legal documents, I've come to the conclusion that the principals of W&B were Samuel and Albert Ratner.  Those legal documents show that the Ratners were fined $35,000 for sending unsolicited promotional material to men through the mail.  They appealed, and the fine was suspended pending the outcome of a similar case already making its way up the legal food chain which eventually cleared them.  We start todays set with (l-r) Don Davis, Bob Penn, Johnny Lamont and an unknown.  

 

Ten in Color

In the first of several lineups in today's series, we have ten men in color.

 

Quintet

My source didn't have names for any of these five,

but the guy at right looks familiar.

 

Octet

Here we have a jovial group that includes (back row, l-r) John King, Unknown, Butch Umbenhauer, Bob Jackson, and Tommy Evans with (front) Bob Zimmerman, Enrique Nieves, and Jim Wayne.

 

Sextet

The guy everybody is quite understandably grabbing hold of is Ted "Rock" Hudson.  I have only a few photos of Mr. Hudson, some of which are Wyngate & Bevins with others appearing to be by AMG.  I'd love to have more.  The other identified model in this group is Jack Stanford at far left. 

 

Jolly Trio

Left to right, Unknown, Ralph Smith and Don Davis.  These guys appeared in other 

publications in poses that one would never, ever have seen in a real nudist camp.

 

Ron and Tony

My source says that's Ron Wallace second from left and Tony Perry at far right.  As the watermark indicates, the Bob Mizer Foundation took an interest in Wyngate & Bevins' work.  There was overlap of models between the two operatons, and a few W&B photos look like they might have been taken on the AMG campus in LA.  I have not, however, been able to find any explicit evidence of a business relationship.  If anyone know more, please comment.

 

Chorus Line

This one looks like they're forming up for a chorus line.

 

M.A.N.

Wyngate & Bevins put out a magazine called M.A.N., which stood for Male Adult Nudists.  

It was obviously all male, but W&B did include females in some of their publications,perhaps 

to avoid being called out as a gay publication.  The mix of models in this one was nice.

 

Nine Male Nudists

Closing with a photo from a W&B set called Nine Male Nudists.  Yes, I know there are only five here, but the real point of interest is the guy at far right.  That's notorious Hollywood pimp and tattletale, Scotty Bowers, looking pretty decent for being about 40.  I plan to give Mr. B his own set soon.

 

Wilhelm von Pluschow

Wilhelm von Pluschow's photography is often overshadowed by his better known younger cousin Wilhelm von Gloeden.  Both worked in Italy, often with what we now consider underage male models.  Von Gloeden was more prolific, but both had talent.  Today is Von Pluschow day.  Our first photo is of a man who posed for several photos in various poses with palm fronds.

 

Doorway

Von Pluschow did more than a few photos in doorways.

 

Recline

This one would have been more impressive were it full length.

 

Bearded Man

I'm including this just so you know that Wilhelm von Pluschow

didn't just take photos of naked young men.

 

Leopard

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Chemistry

I sense some developing chemistry between these two.

 

Lanky

The model is more on the lanky side than usual for this photographer.

 

Pipe

The pipe as the only prop is unusually simple for Von Pluschow's work.

 

Rocky area

This is from a group of photos taken by Von Pluschow in an area

of rocky cliffs, overhangs, and caves.

 

Potted plants

Our closing photo by Wilhelm von Pluschow is a young man with a group of potted plants.

 

Color from Ten of the Best

With the exception of Western Photography Guild, most of the Classic Era physique 

photographers were very sparing in their use of color.  Today we will look at ten, including 

one "dark horse" photographer and this picture of an impressive mature male by AMG.

 

Bruce of Los Angeles

Ed Johnson stood on Bruce Bellas' iconic grass floor mat for this fine derriere shot.

 

Jean Ferrero

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Kris

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Lon of New York

Although Lon of New York did produce a few color nudes, I think I've already posted them.

So I decided to go with this attractive shot of Luis Santiago instead of a repeat.

 

Mark One Studio

Gerald Desfosses shows us a fine asset in this photo by todays dark horse studio, 

Mark One of Canada.  The man behind the camera was Alan Stone of Montreal.

 

Dave Martin

To see some Dave Martin photos of Cliff Harris without his clothes,

paste his name into the search box at bottom right.  I think

this was meant to be sent home to his mother.

 

Pat Milo

Tom Nevins posed for Pat Milo in front of a patch of prickly pear cactus.

 

Russ Warner

After perusing his work for hours, I've decided that Russ Warner rarely, 

if ever, used color film for his frontal nudes.  We'll have 

to make do with this magazine cover of Reg Park.

 

Western Photography Guild

Closing the series with this gorgeous shot of Alan Green

by Don Whitman of Western Photography Guild.