Category: {photography}

Photography

Naked furniture

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Taking a break from the psychedelic overload today with a return to (what else?) black and white photographs of naked men. The subjects this time are from Mobilario Humano, fanciful suggestions for furniture designs by David Blázquez which use the photographer himself as the subject, collaged into a series of pliable clones. Allen Jones produced similar work with female figures in the 1960s—and Stanley Kubrick borrowed Jones’ idea for A Clockwork Orange—but this is the first time I’ve seen male figures used this way.

Thanks to Carmine for the tip!

Arthur Tress’s Hermaphrodite

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Hermaphrodite behind Venus and Mercury (1973).

We had Austin Spare and absinthe yesterday. Looking at some of Arthur Tress‘s photographs today I was reminded me of one of Spare’s hermaphrodite studies (below). The photo is from a series, Theater of the Mind, which Tress created during the 1970s.

• Arthur Tress at GLBTQ

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Gynander: Mutation by Besz-Mass (1955).

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Czanara’s Hermaphrodite Angel

Torero

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You don’t have to agree with bullfighting to appreciate Torero, Ruven Afanador‘s photo series which brings to the surface the usually latent but always present homoerotics of the sport. These were part of a book collection in 2001 which seems now to be out of print.

With Torero, Ruven Afanador lays open a world of poignant beauty and sensuality – not the atmosphere of the bullfight, but the intimate world of proud young matadors in all their manly valor, and youthful dreams intact. This exquisitely produced volume of Afanador’s black-and-white portraits, taken over a period of two years comprise the most substantial collection of torero images ever published. In Mexico, Peru, Spain and his native Columbia, Afanador opens the door to the famously closed society of bullfighters, offering his elegant, private view of the boys and young men raised in a centuries-old Latin tradition, capturing their balletic beauty, and their distinctly, undeniably erotic aura. Through these iconic portraits, Afanador also gorgeously documents the sumptuous and richly-crafted couture-like costumes and the timeless symbols of the torero culture.

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Xiphophilia

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How else to name this obsession? (Which, it should be noted, is more a mild preoccupation than a full-on fetish.) Xiphoid isn’t a word one hears very often:

\Xiph”oid\ (?; 277), a. [Gr. ? sword-shaped; xi`fos a sword + ? form, shape: cf. F. xiphoide.] (Anat.)
(a) Like a sword; ensiform.
(b) Of or pertaining to the xiphoid process; xiphoidian.

Ensiform is less of a challenge but doesn’t lend itself to a suffix while foinery is a term which only refers to combat with foils. Xiphophilia will have to suffice.

swordboy

The Aragorn type at the top of the post is a Polish model, Jared Koronkiewicz, and his uncredited photo is via Queerty. The identity of the pouting sword boy is a mystery but this picture and another look like scans from a fashion mag. Thanks to Callum for the tip. Finally, the umbrella swords are a design concept from Materious. While these might be useful for keeping commuters at bay, in the current climate of security theatre they’d probably only lead to your arrest or worse. But they look good. Via Core77.

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Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The men with swords archive