WPG's Daryl French via Brian E

Long ago I posted a photo of a Western Photography Guild model who was unknown to my source and me.  My friend Brian E not only identified him, but sent me about two dozen additional photos of him.  The model is Daryl French, and I am posting ten of his pictures.  If you look closely you will see that his beard and tan lines are different across his work, leading me to think that the images were made in several sessions over a period of time.  Once again, many thanks to Brian!

 

Chained

Don Whitman chained Daryl French to a tree for this one.

 

Color

 

The pose for this color shot is literally offhand.

Dreamy

Daryl gives us a dreamy expression here, and I love it.

 

Hazy

I was tempted to electronically sharpen this somewhat hazy photo of Daryl French 

adjusting some stereo setting in bed, but I left it as it was sent to me by Brian.

 

Classic

Here we see a quintessential Don Whitman/WPG outdoor image

with Darry French dramatically set against the Western sky.

 

Shower

It seems odd that he's half out of the shower with the curtain pulled back and the water running. 

 I suppose we can put it off to artistic license because it's still a very good picture.

 

Diagonal

We see some more studio magic in this nice diagonal pose.

 

Draped

Don Whitman's skills at composition and posing a model are on full view here.  

Daryl French looks like he is literally draped over that rock,and the little 

tree in the left background adds some subtle interest.

 

Conventional Pose

Closing the Daryl French set with the most conventional pose in the series.

Thanks again to Brian E for today's pictures!

 

Hairy Derriere Day

A few weeks ago I ran a hairy men series, and I promised our friend Albert the Gay Belgian 

that I would put on a hairy derriere series, so here it is.  We start with an 

unknown model from the March, 1984 edition of Honcho.

 

Jeff Cameron

This is supposed to be Jeff Cameron.

 

Sideburns

The sideburns are a secondary element here.

 

Lou Marshall

Here we see Lou Marshall by AMG.

 

Colt

I think this is from Jim French's early days at Colt.

 

Happy Trails

Is there such a thing has happy trails on the back?

 

Earl Lawrence

That's Earl Lawrence at right with an unknown (to me, anyway) friend in the AMG shower.

 

Hanging in the Dunes

This guy is sort of hanging out in the dunes.

 

Laura Ashley

If I haven't already posted this guy and his Laura Ashley wallpaper, I should have.

 

Mateus?

Is that a bottle of Mateus in the fridge door?

 

Questionable

This was listed as vintage on a dodgy website,

but I'm including it despite my doubts.

The reason should be obvious.

 

Blogger Favorites II - Early 20th Century

For the second installment of my favorite photos by type, we look at the early 20th Century.

We start with a French physical education photo that might be by Prof. Desbonnet.

 

Leopold Mercier

These two wrestlers were photographed by Leopold Mercier in 1900.

 

Swimmers

I go goofy for vintage men in striped bathing suits,

but I wouldn't mind seeing Mr. Left without his.

Can I have it both ways, please?

 

Sturdy and Confident

This isn't the best photo in any technical sense, but the sturdy

 build of the man and his confidence come shining through.

 

Atelier 1910

All I know about this one is that it came labeled "Atelier 1910."

 

Maurice Deriaz

When I last posted this 1902 Hercules themed photo, I mentioned that it might have been one of the Deriaz Brothers.  Turns out that it was Maurice Deriaz with an unexpected mustache.

 

Two sides

 

This is one of those "best of both worlds" photos that gets front and back in one shot.

Unexpected choice

More than a few of you are probably looking at this and wondering how it made a blogger favorites series.  Well, there's something about the happy looking fisherman that makes want to know him.  This working man is obviously comfortable in his own skin and exudes a special kind of masculinity.

 

Socks

When I first saw a thumbnail of this one, I thought he was wearing gladiator sandals.

On closer examination, however, I saw they were striped socks and fell in love.

 

Tumblr Snag

The last image in this round of early 19th Century favorites is from an long disappeared tumblr 

blog called Antique Erotic.  It was a very well curated operation, and I miss it terribley.  

I'm sure there's a Classical reference there somewhere, but it's lost on me.