Denny Denfield Day

Denny Denfield was one of the few physique photographers of his time who did frontal nudes, but never ran into legal problems.  The main reason was that he was an amateur who didn't commercially distribute his work.  Fortunately for us, he seems to have shared his work with at least one private collector who kept a well preserved scrapbook.  Photos from that collection have been turning up on vintage resale websites over the past nine months, and most of today's pictures are from that group of "new" photos. We start with a fellow pointing as he's framed by trees.

 

Sullen

As you will see, not all of Mr. Denfield's work was stunning.  While the somewhat sullen looking model is certainly well built, this image doesn't have the level of artistic elements we might expect.

 

Bryan B.

Bryan B. sent me this Denny Denfield photo which is not part of the scrapbook collection 

I mentioned earlier.  I love the composition and the model's all over tan.  This is 

as close as we will get to a derriere shot today because this photographer 

took what may be the smallest proportion of them known.

Thanks, Bryan!

 

Cropped

The company selling this photo on line had scanned it alongside another, unrelated photo, 

so I separated them.  I suppose they were trying to save time or money.

 

Pushing

Perhaps pushing up on the rock overhang was some sort of isometric execise method.

 

Glue

The online reseller said of this one, "Very good condition, but some glue residue on the back.  Not signed."  The lighting and composition are quite good, the pose typical for the time.

 

Early on?

There's no way to know, but I'm thinking this may be from early in Mr. Denfield's career.

 

From my collection

This one is from my original collection and not the recent scrapbook flurry.

It was labeled simply "Denfield California."

 

More glue

This is another one that came with that free provenance building glue on the back.

 

Golden Oldie

Finishing up with a picture that is a golden oldie in more ways than one.

It's one of the very first Denny Denfield photos I posted on this blog.

 

Trios

Today we do everything by threes, and our first trio looks like

they were cropped from a bigger Wyngate & Bevins photo.

 

Beefy

These beefy guys are enjoying a round of arm wrestling.

 

Swimmers

The two at left seem detached from the fellow about to dive in the lake.

 

AMG

These three are Don Hawksley, Juwa LaVonce, and Howard Heidtmann 

as photographed by Bob Mizer in 1961.  

 

Adolf Koch

These three are from Adolf Koch's 1929 book, the title of which

translates as Nudity, Body Culture, and Education.

The photographer was anonymous.

 

Bororo

These fishermen are Bororo people whose home is on the Brazil-Bolivia border.

According to recent reports, they have done better than most indigenous

folk of that region in terms of cultural preservation.

 

Jack Mitchel

Jack Mitchell took this picture of a scene from And Puppy Dog Tails, 

a popular gay themed 1969 Off Broadway play.

 

Very white

Here we see three young men showing their very white behinds on a footbridge.

 

1968

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Arm in Arm

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Finns Who Are Not World War II Soldiers

When I post images of Finnish men, they are almost always World War II soldiers,

but today we will look at some other types.  We start with a wader and his toy

sailboat from 1913, a time when Finland belonged to the Russian Empire.

 

Sauna I

In the first of three sauna photos in today's set, we get a peekaboo look 

at the guy at left while a bored looking female attendant walks past.

 

Happy Naturist

This exhuberant nudist is supposed to be from the 1980s/

 

Soldier

At first glance, you might think I sneaked a World War II soldier in, but this guy is actually from 1975.  Historically neutral, Finnland has always maintained a well trained military, and their joining NATO in the wake of the Ukraine War was a big plus for the alliance.  Russia was not happy.

 

Lake Guy

I'm posting front and back views of the Finnish naturist photographed wading in a lake.

 

Sauna II

It was 1951 when this congenial group of Finns got in a sauna together.

The guy at right seems to know he's putting on a show.

 

No Date

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Sauna III

These men relaxing outside a sauna are supposed to be from the 1970s.

 

Don't Know

I don't know if these two are practicing the Finnish custom 

of ice swimming or cooling off after a sauna.

 

Gesture

I have no idea what the gesture means, but our closing shot is another naturist in a lake.