Part 2 ended with photographers practically recreating each other’s poses, and today we push that idea one step further into direct conversations between photography and painting.
Seated young man with dark curly hair in profile with curved spine: 1. Young Male Nude Seated Beside the Sea - Hippolyte Flandrin - 1836; 2. Wilhelm von Gloeden - 1902
In these pairings, photographers clearly seem to be referencing older artworks — Renaissance paintings, Symbolism, classical sculpture, Saint Sebastian imagery, and other well-known artistic tropes that have carried queer undertones for generations. In one case, it even feels possible the photograph may have influenced the painting instead of the other way around.
St. Sebastian the martyr: 3. Martyrdom of St. Sebastian - Luca Signorelli - 1498;
4. St. Sebastian - Pieter Pauwel Rubens - 1614; 5. Gene Meyer - Frederick Kovert - 1940s
What fascinates me is how naturally vintage male photography slips into these older visual traditions. A photographer like Wilhelm von Gloeden borrowing from classical painting doesn’t feel strange at all because the whole physique world was already obsessed with mythology, sculpture, athletic beauty, and idealized youth.
Adam: 6. The Creation of Adam - Michelangelo - 1512; 7. Charles Atlas - Edwin Townsend - 1930s;
8. Gene Meyer - Frederick Kovert - 1940s
And later photographers kept doing the same thing — sometimes subtly, sometimes almost shot-for-shot. Saint Sebastian alone may be one of the most recycled queer-coded images in Western art history.
David: 9. Statue of David - Michelangelo - 1504; 10. Charles Atlas - Edwin Townsend - 1930s;
11. Norman Tousley - Dave Martin - 1950s
The more I look at these connections, the less interested I become in questions of “originality.” Art has always evolved through imitation, apprenticeship, admiration, theft, influence, tribute, rivalry, and reinvention.
Figure in foreground (back side) watching men shower: 12. Douche (shower) - Boris Ignatovitch - 1932; 13. After the Battle - Aleksandr Deyneka - 1944
Vintage male photography is no exception. These artists weren’t creating in isolation — they were building a long chain together, one beautiful naked guy at a time.
Two men sharing bathroom, one standing at sink (back side), the other kneeling in the tub (profile):
14. Le Bain (The Bath) - Paul Cadmus - 1951; 15. Untitled - Bill Costa - 1997
Thoughts?
Please chime in on any additions or corrections.
