Couches

This set begins with Marco Demiteri, who has multiple synonyms, sharing a wonderfully retro green sofa and closes with Colt star Boyd Winner stretched across a dark couch in a pose that immediately reminded me of the Barberini Faun (see Bonus image below). 

1. Marco Demiteri aka Bill Corey or Brandon Dotorg in a color photo on a green couch with checker board upholstery.

The rest of the set includes Harvey Catrell, Don Hawksley, Barry Hoffman, Monte Hanson, and several other men making themselves very comfortable.

2. Harvey Catrell, Colt model lying face down on a soft red sofa, with diffused lighting thoughtfully focused on his lower region.

3. Dean Roberts (who we've recently seen standing in Bathroom and Vanity shots) lying on his side on a green vertically striped mid-century couch with a white pillow.

Couches share a lot with chairs, but they change the energy of the room. A chair encourages sitting. A couch invites lingering. You can stretch out on it, curl up on it, fall asleep on it, make out on it, or use it as a halfway point before heading somewhere else. 

4. Don Hawksley, popular beefcake model who posed for Pat Milo in a horizontal reclining pose with strong diagonal line in the center of the frame.

5. Jeff Rearson aka Barry Hoffman, popular model who posed for many mid-century photographers including Kundzicz, Hurles, and Jim French, reclining on a huge couch with classic '70s bush, stache, lamb chops and same exact haircut my dad had in those days.

Photographers seem to understand this instinctively. The poses become more relaxed, more reclined, and often more intimate. Some models sit. Others sprawl. Some end up on the floor leaning against the couch, which is exactly what I used to do as a kid.

6. Monte Hanson in down facing pose with primary colored upholstery and pillows.

7. Max Montoya in a beautifully composed photo on a gray sofa.

Looking through these photographs, I can't help feeling that couches mark one of the clearest departures from the old "ritual of innocence" that shaped so much physique photography. Nobody is pretending these men are demonstrating athletic technique or posing for a medical textbook. 

8. Connor (see June 21, Chairs) crouched on all-fours facing foreshortened toward the camera with strong front lighting on brown corduroy sofa.

They aren't sailors, cowboys, or bodybuilders showing off their latest gains. They're simply there, comfortable in their own skin, often looking directly back at the camera and inviting the viewer to linger.

9. Mark Benson seated on the floor reclining against the base of a white couch.

That's what I like about these images. They acknowledge something obvious but often overlooked: men can be sensual too. Not just strong, stoic, or powerful, but relaxed, desirable, receptive, and fully at ease being looked at. The couch doesn't just support the body. It gives that side of masculinity room to stretch out.

10. Boyd Winner, Colt star reclining on a large dark sofa echoing classic marble Barberini Faun sculpture (see below).

Bonus. Barberini Faun (a motif taken in a few of the Chair, and Couch photos from today and yesterday's posts e.g. Bill Cable, Marco Demiteri, and Boyd Winner.)

Please leave thoughts, questions, or corrections in the comments.