Above:
Colin by Nick S82
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Sunday, July 30, 2017
War Stories
When I was searching for images for Saturday's post 'Widow's Walk', i was mostly looking for vintage images sailors and soldiers from World War II. I have searched and posted vintage military images before, but usually was most drawn to the black and white shots. I was struck however this time around by some of the color images from the Korean war in the 50's, the Vietnam War in the 60's and early 70's.
As recent as these two wars actually were, they weren't given a lot of space in the history book, at least not when I was in high school in the early 90's. Maybe they were too recent, or maybe although we still honour our solders, we know better than to honour our wars, especially the wars since World War II. The first two world wars seemed to have purpose, it is harder to find purpose in most of the last few wars, especially looking back.
Most of these images come from those two wars, along with many from the Gulf War in the early 90's. This war I remember, I was young, and to be honest, remember mostly being angry at all the coverage on television wrecking my TV viewing. Given FH is devoted to the male form, it did not go unnoticed, the changes in men, especially the changes in body shapes and sizes in our more recent wars.
Most of the soldiers in World War II had crew cuts. In the latter wars, it was a mix of crew cuts and shaved heads, with shaved heads taking over in recent years. The soldiers in World War II clearly did not eat as well, and many looked underweight and undernourished. You rarely saw a guy with pounds to spare in vintage images from the time. Partly it may have been location, and ability to easily, and quickly transport food to war zones.
I think in part it was also priorities, and of course the draft. In the Gulf War, solders volunteered. With earlier Wars, many were drafted, and had little to no say on having their basic needs met. So many images of naked military men involve water, showering and cleaning. In World War II, many of these images were shot on beaches and at lakes whereas during The Gulf War, it was man made showers were primarily available.
I will have to do a history of military showers at some point as some of the make shift structures are quite incredible, especially the work it took to bring enough water for everyone.
'Cheeky-Chappie': Colin by Nick S82
'Colin has that Irish 'cheeky-chappie' and 'Squaddie' personality and sense of humour.'
First off, let me save you the time. When NickS82 sent on the quote above about working with Colin, I had no idea what it meant either. A quick search let me know that 'cheeky-chappie' is an early 20th century expression which refers to a cheeky, likeable man or boy. 'Squaddie' is connected to squad, and is used to describe someone in the military. For some odd reason, even before I knew the meaning, the playful and fun description fit, especially once I learned Colin's Irish and ex-military.
Colin looks nothing like a Leprechaun of course, but Nick captured some great shots showcasing his playfulness and personality. It was this playfulness that had me reaching out to Nick about featuring his work with Colin and most of my favorite shots were of Colin trying out different poses with fun and quirky facial expressions.
It was Colin's personality that Nick wanted to focus on for their first shoot together.. When they got together for their second shoot, Nick'g goal was to shoot more theme and narrative based images. 'We specifically decided to try some erotic concepts, based on what the British would call 'Morning Glory.' If you're a member of Flickr, you can check out more from both shoots on Nick's Flick album featuring his work with Colin HERE:
Beyond his playfulness, Colin is also incredibly sexy. A great body, which he clearly takes care of, I especially love Colin's dark eyes, and his magnificent chest and deliciously large nipples. In addition to what you see, Colin's sexiness can also be felt in how comfortable he appears in front of the camera. Sometimes poses can looked forced or overly staged, but in Nick's shots, Colin seems so natural and appears to be just doing 'his thing'.
'Colin was an absolute joy to work with, very open-minded and body-confident. He's now a Personal Trainer and Bodybuilder and was "discovered" as a model (not by me) by a talent spotter on Instagram. He has now worked with "famous" British photographers who usually work with celebrities.'
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