PAJAMA photo of nude Tennessee Williams

Here's a rare find. Original PAJAMA (Paul Cadmus, Jared French, Margaret French) vintage gelatin silver print by Jared French (1905-1987) from the collection of Paul Cadmus (estate stamp to reverse).

A rare image of a nude Tennessee Williams (lower right) and Donald Windham to (upper left) dated 1943.
4 1/4" W x 6 1/2" H

You can bid on it now: http://www.ebthauctions.org/

Auction closes 8PM EST Saturday Oct 24, 2009.

The Masculine Physique

Gotta love this cover photo. Rare 1935 issue of The Masculine Physique (only 3000 copies printed). Act fast. You can still bid on it at eBay.

Von Gloeden photo on eBay

Luca, one of our collector friends in Italy has just posted a wonderful Von Gloeden photograph on eBay, Male Nudes Next to a Column (1900-1930).

If you're interested in Von Gloeden definitely take a look.

Although the listing itself is in Italian, be assured that Luca is a reputable seller. It comes from a private collection that he bought from a French library, with the catalog attached.

The auction ends June 24th.

To Harvey

Finally saw MILK last night in a movie theater in the City Across the Bay-- Oakland, CA. While feeling some regret that I didn't see it at the Castro, I realized that it's just another sign of progress: We Are Everywhere. By the end of the film I heard lots of sniffling and saw plenty of teary eyes.

Still smarting from the passage of Prop 8, Milk's story, told and acted so beautifully, gives us strength and inspiration. Yes, it gives us "hope." Harvey may not have been resurrected but there's no doubt his spirit lives on.

And so we offer this vintage black and white photo by Crawford Barton as a tribute to Harvey Milk and his comrades.

It shows a smiling Larry Lara (Barton's lover) standing nude with the city of San Francisco as a backdrop.

It is both a personal and a political statement. And there's no doubt that Harvey, who had a keen sense of drama and an eye for male beauty, would have appreciated it.

Men Showering Together

A great photo, sold yesterday on eBay for a hefty $620. Pretty good price for an anonymous 8" x 10" photo with damage from a paper clip near the top.

The appeal is obvious... a bunch of naked guys showering together.

They all turn their backsides to the camera. Nice butts. Skin glistening. Soap dropping... well one can imagine.

But there's something very strange going on when you look a little more closely. Is it a double exposure? An elaborate Photoshop trick?

The guys in the foreground don't seem to be part of the same image. They look like they've been superimposed or layered on top.

The man on the right who is either taking off or putting on his underwear has a semi-transparent shoulder. The guys on the left... what the hell are they doing, just watching? Doesn't that seem a little, uh, gay?

And what's going on in the room itself? It doesn't look like a barracks, or a gym, or a bath house. Shower heads dangle from the lofty ceiling where a couple loose boards might come crashing down at any second. The whole steamy scene is artfully illuminated. You can almost hear the water dripping.

This photo raises a lot of questions and provides few, if any answers. Maybe that's why it was such a hot item. Or maybe just any old photo of a bunch of naked guys showering together sells for 600 bucks these days. I dunno, but will keep my eyes open.