Columns

Columns are among the oldest props in physique photography, appearing as early as the nineteenth century. Borrowed from Greek and Roman architecture, they immediately place the nude male within the visual language of classical antiquity. Whether or not photographers consciously understood the symbolism, the association was unmistakable: beauty, balance, strength, and proportion.

1. Jim Stewart by Lyle Frisby (or his partner Pat Milo) - 1956.

2. Jack Reno

3. Don Scott

Unlike a wall or chair, a column invites the viewer to compare one vertical form with another. The body's posture echoes the architecture beside it, transforming the model into something almost statuesque. Standing poses dominate, with an occasional lean that softens the geometry and adds a hint of contemplation.

4.  I don't have a name for this model, but the image has a fascinating backstory. It is titled "Nu masculin à la colonne" (Male Nude at the Column) - c 1900 (Rome, Italy) by the pioneering Italian fine art photographer Vincenzo Galdi (1871–1961) who started as a model and assistant to the Wilhelm von Plüschow (cousin to photographer, Wilhelm von Gloeden. Galdi opened his own studio in Rome in 1900 and is credited. with laying the groundwork for early Italian erotic and physique photography.

5. Erman Cassamassa

6. The legendary Norman Tousley.

7. Leroy Colbert

Columns also helped reinforce the "ritual of innocence." By wrapping the male nude in the authority of classical art, photographers could present these images as studies of anatomy and beauty rather than overtly erotic photographs. Whether viewers accepted that distinction is another story. 

8. Fred Elliot by AMG.  There is something I love about the overall composition here...the angle of the pose, the geometric shadows in the background, the Moorish tile pattern against the Roman column, the vegetation and the miniature statue in the bottom right...and of course, Mr. Elliot is a beauty!

9. Henry Lenz in a posing strap.

10. Tony Wilson who I've given a solo feature on July 4 in a dynamic bulldog variation by Mizer.

Please leave thoughts, questions, corrections or additions in the comments. Thank you, bns