Favorite Pic of the Day for August 12th

Above:

Blake by Anthony Q

-See More Below-

Happy Birthday today August 12th

Sam J Jones (aka Andrew Cooper III, Playgirl 1975)

Happy 61st Sam!

Check out more of Sam on FH HERE:

& More of today's Birthdays HERE: & HERE:

Instantly Intrigued: Blake by Anthony Q

'He had the soul of a gypsy, the heart of a hippie, the spirit of a fairy...'

As I have written about many times, my love for an artist's work usually begins with just one image. In the case of photographer Anthony Q, it is the last image at the bottom of this piece. When I saw the image of Blake laying so beautifully along the tree trunk, I was intrigued. So many things about the image pulled my focus. The surrounding tree's and forest and the pine needles and branches that covered the ground. I loved that Anthony included Blake's boots and clothing in the bottom right of the shot.

Then of course there was Blake himself. His incredible body and the lines and curves he created with his pose. His ankle bracelets and rings and his seductive green eyes focused straight into the camera. Then there's that beautiful hair. I loved how Blake's long dreads cascaded over the tree, flowing over the dead wood's cracks and crevices. There was something about Anthony's image as well as Blake's overall appearance and aura, including the dirt on his legs that all blended so perfectly together.

It felt as if Blake and tree were somehow connected, tied beyond just the trunk being a prop to display his naked body. The quote at the beginning of this piece comes from Blake's instagram and it sort of sums up everything I'm try to say. Blake doesn't look like a model who walked into the forest to pose, instead he looks like he belongs within the environment. Anthony perfectly matched model and pose with location in the creation of this set of images. Blake had been modeling in California for awhile but recently relocated to Hilo, Hawaii and is looking forward to experiencing the modeling industry there as well.

Anthony Q got his start in photography several years after attending a darkroom photography exhibit. Anthony says he was instantly intrigued. Anthony began taking classes in wet darkroom printing and explored various genres, (landscapes, still life) but it was his living subjects, both humans and animals that became his favorites. After Blake responded to a casting call Anthony set out, they agreed to get together to shoot the next day.

'After first meeting Blake, I saw how professional he was. He brought plenty of ideas and suggestions to the shoot - and is a natural at posing. I was pretty sure during the shoot that we had some winners -- and we were both very happy with the results once we reviewed the shots after they were downloaded.'

Anthony Q

See more of Blake on his Instagram HERE:

Stephen Shellen: Orchestrated Exit?

Conspiracy theories are a funny thing, most are fairly easy to quickly dismiss. Most also however, have something about them that makes you pause and wonder. Although I am not a huge believer in most conspiracy theories, I find them immensely fascinating, especially when they are based in a past truth.

Stephen Shellen was a hard working busy Hollywood actor for most of the 80's and 90's. Shellen appeared with some of the industries biggest stars together with Brad Pitt, Whoopi Goldberg and Angelina Jolie in films including; A River Runs Through It, The BodyGuard, Casual Sex, Burglar and Gone In 60 Seconds. Shellen also appeared on television with roles on 21 Jump Street, Tales From The Crypt, Counterstrike, Law & Order, Due South and the 80's mini-series Hollywood Wives.

Although many actors see their careers and roles take a dip, according to Shellen, his exit from Hollywood was far more orchestrated. According to Shellen, after attempting to find out who assaulted his wife, and who was threatening his 4 year old son, he endured years of harassment leading to a blacklist from the industry. Although one might want to quickly write off Shellen as crazy, blacklisting as we all know is nothing new in Hollywood, and whether real or imagined, Shellen's tale is fascinating one to research.

Now here's where things get sort of interesting, or maybe just a fun and ironic coincidence. Back in 2009, I did a birthday piece on Stephen. If you click on the link, (HERE:) you will see all of the images in the piece were blackened out. Stephen himself saw the piece and made a comment. Stephen's images and video's disappearing seemed to be a pattern. What is strange is that all of the images were still in my storage, but despite my efforts, I was unable to put them back. On it's own, I am sure it means nothing, but at the same time, even though this has happened a few other times in the last eight years, this was the only piece I was not able to easily fix.

Modeling

Shellen eventually moved from Hollywood and is now a respected artist living, working and exhibiting in Montreal. Shellen's last on screen role was in 2010's Territories (see image below) and he continues to do voice work including voicing the character of David Sarif for the video game Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Below are a few shots from some of Shellen's movies, but... this is of course FH. Scroll down for some of Shellen's hottest skin scenes over the course of his fascinating career.

Casual Sex (1988)

A few screen caps from more recent movies:

With Bo Derek in Frozen With Fear (2001)

Territories (2010)

Stephen Shellen on Facebook

Stephen Shellen: The Skin

Gimme An F  (1984)

'Getting Discovered' seems to be a theme in many of Stephen (Steve) Shellen's nude scenes. There is a sexy voyeuristic pattern in so many of his movies. Brad Pitt and Craig Sheffer come upon a naked, and very sunburned Shellen in Robert Redford's A River Run Through It. Whoopi Goldberg gets an eye full of Shellen while hiding in a closet in Burglar. A classical music composer comes upon a naked Shellen and his wife in a 1984 episode of The Hitchhiker.

My favorite scene however, is when two girls come upon Shellen doing his wet, tighty whitey dance in 1984's Gimme An F. Shellen quickly see's he has an audience and plays to the crowd. Shellen's gymnastic background came in handy and as you can see from the video, Shellen did most of his own stuntwork for the complicated, but incredibly sexy scene.

Vivid  (1999)

Burglar  (1987)

The Hitchhiker, Lovesounds (1984)

A River Runs Through It (1992)