Wrapping Arms

An arm around another man can signal friendship, protection, competition, even a wrestling hold. But whatever the case, it pulls two bodies together—chest to back, hip to hip, heads within inches. The distance between men disappears.

1. Ronnie Ronson (right) and Mike Troy in QQ magazine in the early 1970s.

2. John Hamill (right) with Richard Caldwell by Galaxy Studios of London - 1968. Hamill was a prominent British physique model during the late 60s who transitioned into minor roles in film and television. This shot captures a popular style of physique photography at the time in the UK, the "wrestling" or "buddy" shots in an effort to avoid issues with the country's censorship laws.

Physique photographers made good use of that ambiguity. A clinch could be athletic. An arm over the shoulder could be brotherly. Two cowboys could simply be buddies. The ritual of innocence remained intact, even as the body contact became more intimate.

3. Jack Hackner (right) and Moose by Jim French in 1979 - when Colt was embracing body hair, thick mustaches, and men who weren't necessarily bodybuilders.

4. Candid shot of men in military barracks possibly from the late 40s to early 50s Korean War era. I borrowed this one from my buddy at VintageMuscleMen because I love it...along with most everything he posts!

5. Unknown models  in t-shirts, boxers, and arms around each other.

And sometimes the pose seems to stop explaining itself. The hold becomes the subject: being pulled in, supported, restrained, or simply allowed to rest against another man's body.

6. Big Zeke (left) and Scott Hammond (right) in cowboy hats by Mel Roberts c. 1964. Notice the placement of Hammond's right hand.

7. Richard E Lee (left) and Sam Benson (right) continuing the cowboy hat theme by Bob Mizer.

8. The Ritter Brothers, Fred (left) and Bill (right) in a self-portrait that played of a common interlocking arms art deco motif in the 1930s.

That's part of what makes these images so compelling to me. They offer something the solitary physique photograph cannot: the pleasure of another man's physical presence.

9. Unknown models with back-to-back interlocking arms by Bob Mizer that played into wrestling grappling movements to play into the sports themes used to avoid censorship challenges in the 1950s.

10. Ledermeister aka Paul Gerrior (front) and unknown model by Jim French in the early 1970s.

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