Favorite Pic of the Day for September 12th

Above:

Austin by Gordon Nebeker

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Happy Birthday today September 12th

Happy 30th to actor Alfie Allen!

Before Alfie took it off (and lost it...) as Theon on Game Of Thrones, he took over for Daniel Radcliffe in the National touring production of Equus. see more of Alfie from that production HERE: & check out more of today's Birthday's HERE:  HERE: & HERE:

ACTORS & Skin: Johnny Whitworth

I had seen Johnny Whitworth on screen many times, but I have to thank author John Grisham for making me truly take notice. I recently caught Grisham on TCM, co-hosting with Robert Osborne. It sort of surprised me to hear Grisham talk about how no one wants to make movies out of his books anymore. They used to of course, Grisham's novels used to hit the screen almost as fast as he could write them. Sadly, character and plot don't seem to be the priorities in green lighting films these days.

I must admit, although I love Grisham's novels, I have not really been a huge fan of most of the movies based on his work. I think Runaway Jury, one of my least favorite of his novels, ended up being of the movies I enjoyed the most. After listening to Grisham's interview, I headed to IMDB to see if there were any films based on his books that I hadn't yet seen... there was just one.

The Rainmaker (1997)

1997's The Rainmaker starred Matt Damon and Claire Daines, but to me, the most compelling actors in the piece were Mary Kay Place and Johnny Whitworth. Their story and scenes were the highlight of film, Whitworth in particular a stand out in his role as Donny Ray. I love how his character was quietly introduced, yet became the central emotional core of the film.

I loved Johnny's performance so much, I headed to IMDB to see what else he'd be in.  Low and behold, the actor, born on Hallween, (be still my heart) has worked with some of the industries biggest stars in a long list of projects since starting his career in the early 90's.

Whitworth's first high profile role was in 1995's Empire Records.  Believe it or not, although know a lot about it, never saw this flick.  I have found it on my cable's On Demand though, and have it set for a future viewing.


Empire Records (1995)

Whitworth went on co-star with Angelina Jolie (in shot below) in Hell's Kitchen (see more in the post below),  Bye Bye Love, Can't Hardly Wait, Pathology, Limitless, and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

Johnny also had an array of guest starring roles on TV from Party of Five, Cold Case, The 100 as well as a starring roles on CSI Miami and recently on NBC's Blindspot.

Johnny in Limitless (2011) with Bradley Cooper

Johnny & Leonardo DiCaprio

Whitworth drew me in not only with his Rainmaker performance, but with his welcoming smile and face and, as you'll see in the post below, hot and fit body.    I look forward to checking out more of Johnny's work, and if we're lucky, his body!

Actors & SKIN: Johnny Whitworth:

Hell's Kitchen (1998)

When you google 'Johnny Whitworth naked', which of course I did for this piece, you don't come up with much.  There are a few sites with caps from Whitworth's 2011 great butt scene in Valley Of The Sun, but not much more.

If you look a bit deeper, which you know I also did, you find two lesser known nude turns from Johnny, including a 'blink or you'll miss it' frontal.  The first flash of Whitworth skin comes from the 1998 Angelina Jolie  flick, Hell's Kitchen.  Although Whitworth plays Jolie's boyfriend, his flash of ass comes from a bathroom quickie with Rosanna Arquette.

Ok, that 'blink or you'll miss it' frontal....  In the 2002 romantic comedy Kiss The Bride, most of the wedding party ends up going for a late night dip in the ocean. The scene is super fast and super dark, but a couple of the actors, including Johnny, drop all for the brief skinematic moment.

Kiss The Bride (2002)

It is not the actor in the first pic above, but  I believe, (but am ready for correction) that Johnny is the guy on the far right in the rest of the caps.  You get a quick glimpse of his butt, and just at the end he turns around for that 'blink' moment.

My caps above don't really show much, but this older cap from lucguaraldo, shines a bit more light on the subject.

Valley Of The Sun (2011)

I managed to watch the first two movies.  There is a free, not so great version of Hell's Kitchen on Youtube, and Kiss The Bride is also on Youtube, but you have to pay to watch or rent.  I didn't get a chance to watch Valley Of The Sun, but it is on the list.  Whitworth looks particularly hot and buffed up in his most recent removal of clothing for the screen.

Turning Tables: Austin by Gordon Nebeker

'I know it is not very PC to “objectify” women or men but when you spend your life photographing the male form, one has to applaud perfection when it appears.'

Gordon Nebeker

It was back near the end of 2013 that I stumbled upon the model mayhem page of then 22 year old Austin Wild.  I knew right away from his images that Austin had something special and was thrilled he gave me the go ahead to put together a feature on his work. (Wild About Austin) Photographer Gordon Nebeker noticed that same magic,  Gordon got together with Austin for a series of shoots that he generously shared with FH in 2014.  When Gordon sent on images from their most recent shoot, this past spring, I again in awe of how incredible Austin looked in front of Gordon's lens.

I began to put together thoughts about the shoot, and jotted down a few notes of points I wanted to cover.  I had to start with the changes in Austin's look, from his hair to the impressive changes in his body, especially his magnificently sculpted butt.  When Gordon followed up with his notes from the shoot, he pretty much covered, with my more finesse, most of the points I wanted to cover.

Before sharing his thoughts on the shoot, I did want to make a comment or two about Gordon's work. Over the past several years, I have been fortunate to have been able to feature a great variety of Gordon's shoots.  They are always visually impressive captured every change, and every inch of Austin's body by putting them beautifully on display.

I use the word 'display' with intention.  I am guessing when Gordon was a kid, his family didn't harp about him 'playing on the furniture'.  Or... maybe they did.  Regardless, some of my favorite images from this set are the ones in which Austin is posed, like a statue, an award or valued piece of art that you want everyone who enter's the room, to be sure not to miss.

'We were working in my townhouse and I decided to shake things up by doing an ‘on the furniture’ shoot so we moved him from table to table and sofas to chairs and countertops. Austin is a very capable model and he quickly found an interesting pose no matter where I placed him in the house. It was a fun shoot!'

Gordon Nebeker

This isn't the first time I have noted Gordon's pleasurable practice of having models pose on furniture. In several of my earlier pieces featuring Gordon's work, there are beautiful shots of models draped over Gordon's coffee table. I really think Gordon needs to put together a coffee table book dedicated to the many models he has shot on his tables, and the other pieces of furniture around his home.

Gordon's furniture provides more than just a base for Austin to pose on.  These shots blend in beautiful lines and curves and aspects of both design and architecture.   The image of Austin on the round table is one of my favorites.  Austin takes on the appearance of a sensuous sundial.  According to Austin, it must have been around eleven o'clock...

Austin 

by Gordon Nebeker, April 2016

One of the things I remember about arranging our 2014 shoots was how difficult it was to find a time to shoot that worked for both of us. Austin was far more busy than I was. He was working pretty much full time and also going to school which didn’t leave much time for modeling even though he enjoyed it. When I tried to set another photo shoot with him the following year, his schedule seemed to be more impossible than before and 2015 went by without a chance to shoot. But patience and persistence eventually won out and I was able to set a photo shoot with him for late April this year and the photos here are from that shoot. 

Austin arrived quite late as traffic in South Florida was worse than usual and he also arrived with a surprise, but more about that later.  Even though we hadn’t worked together for close to two years, we quickly fell into photographic synchronicity and it was as if we work together all the time. It is like those friendships where you don’t see someone for years but when you meet up, the conversation picks up right where you last left off.  Austin’s ’severe high fashion model’ look works well for him and more often than not, he defaults to that. But I was determined to get some ’smiling Austin’ photos as well and am happy to report we had some success.

I mentioned earlier that Austin arrived at the shoot with a surprise but I should say there were a couple of surprises. One was the result of some dedicated gym work over the past couple of years which added some muscle to his tall and lanky frame and filled him out in all the right places. It is hard to single out any single part of his body as the whole represents well the sum of his parts, but it has to be mentioned that his butt is nothing short of perfect. Perfect size, perfect shape and perfectly beautiful to photograph.

I mentioned at the beginning that Austin arrived at the shoot with a surprise. In this case the surprise was a husband as, unbeknownst to me, Austin had married about a year ago. I don’t normally like surprises in the form of friends or family coming along to my photo shoots, but Austin’s husband was as pleasant and good natured as can be. He never tried to ‘direct’ the shoot and was full of compliments for Austin’s work and mine.

Finally, when we we got to the last part of the shoot where I was photographing Austin in the shower, I teased him about having to follow us around all afternoon without being in any of the photographs. “ Now it is time for you to be part of this”, I said, and with his husband's encouragement, he doffed his clothes and got into the shower with Austin and that is the last photograph you see here. A perfect ending for a fun day of shooting!

Austin on ModelMayhem

Gordon Nebeker on ModelMayhem