Whips

Whips seem like a natural extension of my weapons and handheld props series. At first the fantasy is familiar enough: cowboys, ranchers, farmers and other rugged outdoorsmen, with the bullwhip becoming one more piece of masculine equipment. Put one in the hands of a naked man and the scenario isn't especially believable—but by now we know that's part of the fun.

1. Cliff Dollard with a whip by Take One Studio operated by Walter Kundzicz c. 1962.

2. A model only labeled as "Stud" also by Walter Kundzicz (Take One Studio) c. 1962. Notice the same background color and brown braided leather livestock whip. Kundzicz is generally associated with Champion Studio, but he had two other studio names he distributed under, Take One and Master Physique.

3. Bob Kocklick (quite the pseudonym there) with a bullwhip by Bruce Bellas in the late '50s. Notice the BRUC[E] stamp at the bottom, which was Bellas typical signature for catalogue prints at the time.

4. Dave Adducci with a bullwhip by Don Whitman in the late '50s.

5. Keith Lewin by Don Whitman taken in a few years earlier than the photo above of Adducci.

6. Bill Lamm with livestock whip by Bruce Bellas c. 1955.

7. Kirk Bond by Bruce Bellas, early 1960s. Bellas loved Western themes—cowboys, desert landscapes and the rugged outdoors—as a setting for the male nude. It fits what some have called the “ritual of innocence”: wrapping homoerotic imagery in thoroughly masculine fantasy at a time when gay men were commonly stereotyped as effeminate.

Kirk Bond in his cowboy hat probably comes closest to selling that original fantasy. But whips carry another association that's difficult to ignore: BDSM, dominance and the uneasy line between pain and pleasure—or, more troubling for me, sex and violence. I've seen versions of it at the Eagle, where men line up to be spanked or flogged by someone who knows what he's doing. For some people, that's clearly part of the excitement.

8. Don Fuller with a bullwhip in the Mojave Desert, photographed by Bob Mizer, 1956. Fuller made the trip with fellow models Steve Wengryn and Joe Leitel, and the three were photographed in a series of playful Western and “combat” scenes.

 

By the final two photographs, especially with the leather boots, we've moved pretty decisively away from driving cattle. The whip is no longer pretending to be ranch equipment. It's kink.

9. John Clark with a bullwhip by Chuck Renslow c. 1960.

10. Joe Reeves aka Dave Ditmar with a bullwhip and cigarette by Jim French in 1978. He was given the pseudonym Joe Reeves because of his resemblance to actor, Christopher Reeves, who starred in Superman that same year.

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