Vintage Muscle Men

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Werner Bandi

Swiss photographer Werner Bandi is best known for the nude photos he took of his model, protege', and presumed lover Bob Steffen. When the barely legal (by mid-century Swiss standards) Bob caught Werner's eye, Bob's mother was only too happy to encourage the relationship because of the money and opportunities it afforded. Today we will see a mixture of photos of Bob and other models. That's Werner above with his collie in a selfie.

An der Lichtung

The title of this photo, An der Lichtung, translates as In the Clearing,

but it looks more like the unknown model is in a thicket.

Bob's Bum

The lighting here is interesting.

Mislabeled

I think my source mislabeled this one because they said it was Bob Steffen.

It doesn't really look like him to me, and I have lots of picttures of him.

Lakeside

The model is unknown for this lakeside photo.

Seaside

Werner Bandi took Bob Steffen on several trips to the Italian seashore,

and this is supposed to have been made there.

Blond Archer

Here we have an unknown blond archer.

Very Swiss

A setting can't get much more Swiss than in this shot of Bob.

Dapper Bob

Bob looked good when he dressed up, too.

Bob and the snow cap

Closing the series with a shot of Bob Steffen in a stunning mountain area.

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Google Blogger Issues, Again!

I've been getting reports lately of viewers only being able to view three images from a set when they try to navigate the site after opening the comments on a page and using the arrow buttons at the bottom to go on to the next post. (Sometimes these are labeled "older" and "newer.") Initially, I thought this might be limited to certain devices or browsers, but it is more widespread than I thought. The solution is to either use the "Home" button to go back to the main feed or to use your browser's "Back" arrow to go back to it.

This latest issue is in addition to a recent change finally acknowledged by Google that makes it much more difficult to post multiple images at the same time in a predetermined sequence. As many of you know, some of my posts are narrative in nature, so this has made life more difficult for me.

I own the domain name for this site, and if these problems continue, I may move the blog to an independent platform. If any of you have web development experience or suggestions about affordable options for such, please comment or use the contact form at upper right. Thanks.

19th Century Day

It's 19th Century day, and let's start with a screen grab I found in my files with no info.

Woe is me.

This photo by Louis Igout features what I call the "woe is me" pose.

Patrick Keohane

This is Patrick Keohane, and Irishman who was one of the survivors of the Scott Expedition.

Putting it forward

I've heard of putting your best foot forward,

but I think I like this better.

Eakins?

At least one online source attributes this photo to Thomas Eakins or his Circle. I have another image of the same model in a slightly different position, indicating it might have been part of a motion study, something that Eakins did dabble in while Eadweard Muybridge was in Philadelphia.