Mel Roberts Day

Our series today features the work of Mel Roberts, a photographer who came into his own 

in the closing days of the posing strap era.  He is perhaps best known for his extensive use 

of color, and all the pictures in today's set are examples of his color work.

We start the show with Keith Clayton ankle deep in water.

 

Joey Richards

Mr. Roberts photographed Joey Richards on a waterfall viewing platform.

 

Details

Sometimes it's the details that make a photo work.

These two are Rick Johnson and Sam Evans.

 

Steve Desmond

The grass and even the tree on this California hillside look almost dead.

Steve Desmond, however, looks very much alive.

 

Tad Bennett

Tad Bennett wore a sailor cap and some sharp tan lines in the woodland photo.

 

Ron Brouillete

Censorship and arrest were facts of life for male nude photographers when Mel Roberts career got going.  He was one of the most creative when it came to finding ways around the rules.  He had a creative array of posing straps that involved gauze, mesh, and even sheer women's underwear fabric.  The shot above of the handsome Ron Brouillete is a good example of this.

 

Brand Davidson

This 1968 photo of Brand Davidson makes me wonder if Mel Roberts borrowed Bruce Bellas' ranchito for a photo shoot.  Of course there were plenty of other ranches in California at the time.

 

Gary Seegar

Gary Seegar posed poolside for this one.

 

Mike Kelly

This photo of Mike Kelly may be my favorite of the day.

 

Jerry Johnson

Finishing the Mel Roberts series with Jerry Johnson from 1965.

 

Polaroid Day, Part 1 - Black and White

We have a Polaroid two parter today with part one in black and white, part two in color.

We start with a young man looking a pictures of naked females in a trashy magazine.

 

Shapely

I don't know what that wall decoration is behind the model,

but the guy has a shapely behind.

 

Lighting

Although it was in all probably purely accidental, 

the lighting in this one approaches the artistic.

 

Streaks

Here we see the streaks one often observes in old Polaroids.  This is usually the result of the uneven application of a fixing agent the photographer had to smear across each picture.

 

Hmmmm . . .

Hmmmm . . . I think we know why this guy got the modeling job.

 

Polaroid Day, Part 2 - Color

We start the color half of the series with a photo I initially had a hard time believing was a Polaroid.  

In fact, I'm still not sure, but a fairly reliable resale website says so.

 

Candid?

This one may or may not have been candid.

 

Popular Model

This guy must have been popular with a certain photographer 

because he shows up over and over in similar settings.

 

Undies?

Are those his drawers on the table?

 

Bush

And finally, we have something for you bush fanciers.

 

Weightlifting Day

It's weightlifting day, and we start with a guy and his twin dumbbells.

 

Sig Klein

This is Sig Klein, a bodybuilder who maintained championship level fitness into his 50s.

 

Kettle Bell

As noted here before, kettle bell weights have been used in bodybuilding since the 1880s.

This German gentleman is from around 1930.

 

Muscles

I'd say this fellow has been getting results from his efforts.

 

Gladiator I

You can see a patch of thatch around the jockstrap on this man doing his routine

 in gladiator sandals.  We'll see him a bit later today in another pose.

 

Pulley system

This man is using a pulley weight system for his workout.

 

Demonstration

This early 20th Century photo shows a man lifting a barbell.  It is from a series of separate photos 

that show him demonstrating a variety of lifts.  Perhaps the photos were 

meant to have been part of an instructional manual.

 

Outdoors

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Gladiator II

Here's the gladiator sandal guy from a different angle.

 

Tumblr Grab

Our closing photo is one I grabbed during the sack of tumblr.

This guy did a least four other poses during this session.