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Monday, September 30, 2024

Leftovers from Larry III


It's time for another series of odds and ends left over from posts featuring images sent to me by Larry K.  (Larry has a great blog, and there's a link in today's last post.)  We start with the first of at least two boxers in the set, Assane Diouf, a Senegalese who fought in France 1935-47.

 

Finn


Leave it to Larry to find an SA-Kuva photo that I had never seen before.  The note attached said:  "1941-06-20-Vilppula-Matti Niherjuuri."  I think his name was Matti Vilppula, but the last 
word in the note does not show up on Google.  Maybe it's in Russia now.  I have this 
bizarre fantasy that Matti is leading a Finnish Army Sunday service's hymn singing
 in the nude, but the cigarette in his hand makes me think otherwise.

 

Weigh-In


This is obviously a weigh-in of some sort, but it doesn't look 
like one of those official ones coverd by media.

 

1930


This young man was photographed with is barbells in 1930.

 

Sailors


These African-American sailors where photographed showering after work in 1945.  Wayne Miller took the photo on Guan where the men were used as laborers to unload suppy ships.

 

George Shuba



I'm pretty sure the black and white original 1957 photo of George Shuba is one of those great 
locker room shots from the LIFE Archive.  The card, of course, is fake, but I like it.

Model


This poorly cropped (not by Larry) photo is an unknown model who posed for a statue of Istvan Hegedus, a Hungarian athlete, sportsman, and minor national hero.  He was killed by a stray bullet during the uprising of 1956, but not before he posed as a model himself in 1949 for the 20 florint 
banknote shown below.  The note remained in circulation until 1989 when the 
new anti-communist government decided that it was time for a change.
And no, I couldn't find a nude photo of Mr. Hegedus.

 



Roy Richter


I was very pleased to find this George Platt Lynes photo of Roy Richter in an email from Larry K.  It was made in Los Angeles in 1947 during a brief period when Mr. Lynes went West to make money.

 

Luc van Dam


This dreamy number from 1949 is boxer Luc van Dam showering after a training session.

 

Beach Goer


Our last donation from Larry K was on a French website, and the backdrop is a type of wind shelter one sees quite often in the UK.  The origin of the photo and the man's deep all over tan make me think "South of France."  Thanks again to Larry for today's photos!

 

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Eadweard Muybridge, Plate 310

 A close look at Eadweard Muybridge's Plate 310

I'm doing something a bit different today, and focusing on a single plate, number 310, from Eadweard Muybridge's groundbreaking 1884 motion studies.  Number 310 features a young man putting the shot from three angles. I will be showing every image in order by rows so that those of you with technical limitations on enlargement can see some detail.  At the end, I will post a high resolution version that enlarges fairly well.  I suggest blowing it up and scrolling horizontally to get the best impression of motion.  If any of you photoshop geniuses want to make GIFs, I would be happy to have them and post them later.  Below, a portrait photo of Mr. M.



Front View, Segment 1


 In the first segment of the front view, we get some nice muscle shots in panels two and three.

Front View, Segment 2


 In segment two we get the wind-up, such as it is.  More about that later.

Front View, Segment 3


 The athlete lets the put fly in segment three.

Front View, Segment 4


 Segment four is the follow-through, and we also get a side derriere view.

Rear View, Segment 1


 The second row of Plate 310 was taken from a camera angle that eventually produces a rear view, 
so thit's what I'm calling it.  It start with the pickup, just like the other two.

Rear View, Segment 2


 The muscles in panel one are nice, but most of you will like the crotch action in panel three.

Rear Angle, Segment 3


Panel three of this segment has some fine musculature on view.

Rear Angle, Segment 4


 Is that the shot flying away at upper right in the first panel?

Oblique Angle, Segment 1


 The bottom row of Plate 310 shows our athlete from a somewhat oblique angle.
The picture quality from this camera is a rather spotty.

Oblique Angle, Segment 2


It was tempting to brighten up this segment, but I decided not to.

 

Oblique Angle, Segment 3


 I don't know if the method here was standard for 1884 or not,
but we don't see the typical 20th Century full turn into the put.

Oblique Angle, Segment 4


 The last bit of follow-though from the oblique angle completes the full plate sequence.
The complete unedited plate follows.

And finally, the whole thing


 

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Chubby Day, Part 1 - Naked Guys


It's chubby day on the blog, and it will be a two parter with an intermission.  
Part one is five naked men, starting with this gentleman from New Zealand.

 

On a cot


Here we have a chubby guy on a World War II Army surplus cot.  Every family I knew 
growing up had one of those god-awful things, and  nobody could sleep on one.

 

Blood Drive


This was the day they had a blood donation drive at a nudist gathering.  Many of my viewers may 
not be able to relate to this photo . . . other than perhaps being jealous of the females who 
get to rub the bear's tummy to calm him down.  I'm not so sure it's working, however.
It may be more like they're holding him down.  Oh, well, it's a good cause.

 

Sauna Pair


This pair in a sauna look like they're having a good time.



 

Converted


I freely admit to having converted this happy looking fellow's picture to black and white.  No matter how I fiddled with it on my software, I couldn't ged rid of some garish color overbleed.

 

Chubby Day, Intermission - Sumos


For an intermission, we will take a look at a few Sumo wrestlers.  This 1947 American newspaper clipping tells how postwar food shortages had caused the wrestlers to lose weight.

 

Grand Champion

Here we see Grand Champion (Yokozuna) Taniemon Hitachiyama from about 1905.

 

Chubby Day, Part 2 - Swimmers


 


Part Two of chubby day features men at swimming locations, mostly beaches.  This gentleman was a member of the Brighton Swim Club at an early 20th Century New Years Day swim.

Ankle deep


Hopefully there's some water nearby deep enough to swim in.

 

Really friendly


These two look like they sneaked off into the bushes for some privacy,
but got followed by a photographer.

 

Cleveland


OK, so the beach is fake, but I had to include this one.  If my notes are correct, this man was a circus fat man performer.  And yes, there was a time people went to the beach in Cleveland.  In fact, some still do.  Google says that it is safe most of the time, but always check with the Health Department.

 

Big Six


I don't know who Big Six was but his little men friends are quite good looking.

 

Friendly


These two seem quite friendly.

 

Family Guy


This looks like a family snapshot.

 

Sarge


I cropped our final chub of the day from a photo of a group of World War II U.S. Army 
men at an unknown beach.  Something tells me he was "Sarge."