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Saturday, November 19, 2022
Seasonal Sightings:
FH viewers know how much I love great seasonal sightings. When I saw this image on Twitter, with all of the beautiful fallen leaves, I knew I wanted to share it. It didn't hurt that it also included the scrumptious shadowed backside belonging to Zach. Zach's boyfriend took the shot in park and although I'm not sure exactly what he was hunting for, I'm guessing he caught it... You can check out more of Zach on his Instagram & Twitter.
12 Days: Patrick Sabongui in We Need A Little Christmas
'Facing her first Christmas as a single mother, Julie develops an unexpected friendship with an older neighbor.'
Those of you who've been checking out FH for awhile, know my mission with my 12 Days feature. The 12 Days, are the 12 Days of Christmas, and the goal is to spotlight all of those hot holiday hunks. I especially like to yank the pants down from those wholesome Hallmark hunks, you know, the earnest widowers, lawyers, bakers and store owners who inhabit all of the small towns where Christmas magic happens.
I usually get quickly sucked into a Hallmark holiday film, but have to admit, We Need A Little Christmas was little too sugary sweet for me. I got about 20 minutes in before turning it off, but long enough though, to set my sites on my next 12 Days subject, the incredibly sexy Patrick Sabongui.
Firefly Lane
I recognized Patrick's handsome face, but wasn't quite sure form where. Patrick's appeared on many popular television shows including: Stargate: Atlantis, The 100, The Flash, Virgin River, Homeland and Arrow. It took a little while, but then I remembered I'd seen that face and that ass, on the Netflix show Firefly Lane. I didn't watch all of that show either, but long enough to develop more than a passing passion for Patrick.
Faces & Places
To the untrained eye, FH is all about hot bodies and body parts. Sure, the site's focus is clearly the male form, but early into working on the site, I knew it was about more. I've written many times about how the web is full of hot bodies. Thousands of Twitter pages, Instagram's, tumblrs and sites full of millions of images of bodies, butts, pecs and penis's.
So many body parts in face, the more you look at them, the more they all look the same. I know everyone reading this has scrolled through pages of photos of hot men, rarely stopping to actually take a close look. It's kind of of like the current state of television. Hundreds of channels, and still nothing on. I swear I paid more attention to TV when I only had handful of channels.
FH is full of great looking men, with eye-catching bodies, but when I'm drawn to an image, an image that has me stop in my tracks, it's rarely about a front or a backside, more often than not, it's about a face or a place. A great smile, a fun facial expression, eyes that dance or have the ability to lure you in.
It's also about places and spaces. A great image of a model in a great studio space or a beautiful location. I especially love images of the male form in spectacular locations around the world, places I dream and fantasize about visiting one day.
It's about about places in time. Long gone eras when photographing the male form was risky, even dangerous. Times when you couldn't right click and save a shot of a hot nude model, times when you had to go out, pick up that book or magazine, and face the judging eyes of the old lady or man behind the counter of the magazine, drug or department store.
Times when photographers couldn't look for models on-line, but hat do either put discrete ads in magazines or newspapers or take the risk of approaching strange men at the gym or the park and ask if they'd like to model. If they showed any interest at all, you'd wait for just the right moment to ask if they'd pose in the nude.
All of these elements came together earlier this month. I was searching for vintage shots of veterans for my post commemorating November 11th. (HERE:) On one of the pages I found myself on, there was an image of man with such a striking face. He had great facial structure, a beautiful, distinctive nose, and an incredibly infectious smile. His body was incredible, but it was face that had me stop, and want to know more.
The face, after doing an image search, belonged to model and actor Richard Dubois. The place, was Hollywood in the 1950's. The model and bodybuilder was born in 1933 and his passion for fitness led to two number one placements in the Mister America contest. It was through his bodybuilding that led to him being seen by photographer Bob Mizer.
Mizer quickly saw how special Dubois was and quickly put him under contract with the Athletic Model Guild. Thanks to his work with AMG, others took notice, including Hollywood. Dubois never really became a successful actor, but was cast in a few projects, most notably, the 1954 Debbie Reynolds film Athena.
Athena (1954)
Above: Richard with Steve Reeves in 1954's Athena. Below, Richard and Steve with Athena star Debbie Reynolds.
I have no idea who posted that one uncredited shot of Dubois on a form that initially drew me in. I thank them though, for introducing me to the face, and his place in the image history of the male form.
The Gunslinger: Michael Moody by Lights On Studio
'Michael Moody is going to be in town.'
When photographer Tom Nakielski, (Lights On Studio) included the brief sentence above, in an e-mail earlier this year, that was I all I need to hear. My bugging and repeated questions began. You can't blame me really, I love the work of model and actor Michael Moody, especially his creative collaborations with Tom.
It was Tom who first introduced me to Michael's work about five years ago and I've been fortunate to have featured many of their shoot on the site. As a actor and member of The Duelists, Michael is no stranger to performing, on camera, on-screen, and live, in front of enthusiastic audiences.
I know that I'm not the only audience member, enthusiastic about Michael's work. I can tell from the hits, FH readers enjoy his work as well, and I often get e-mails asking about plans for future posts featuring his work. In addition to Michaels beautiful body, handsome face and seductively friendly brown eyes, it's his enthusiasm for character driven modeling that appeals to me, and I think many others who enjoy his work.
Over the last five years, Tom's captured Michael freezing in the snow, (HERE:) channeled a Deity, (HERE:) and wrested a randy rodent, (HERE:) Michael's also helped FH celebrate Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day and Groundhog Day, not to mention heating up many other months of the year with his images from the annual Duelist's calendar.
For this shoot, Michael channels another character, this time, a dangerous, but gorgeous gunslinger.
This particular gunfighter maybe for hire, but it's at a price not everyone is willing to pay. The iconic Western characters are known to be quick on the draw, pistols ready when required. Whether they're working for the law, or against it, the assassins ammo leaves a lasting impact.
How did this shoot come about:
I was visiting my home state and made plans to shoot with Tom. I always like working with Tom and the last time we got the chance was before the Pandemic.
Why the 'Gunslinger' theme?
Gunslingers are an icon in American mythology and I’ve always been fascinated with this archetype. I aim to revisit it every so often to see how different artists and photographers interpret it.
Was the costume yours?
I provided the costume and the majority of the props. I enjoy character design as well as modeling.
Given your an actor, is it easier and more enjoyable to create a character for modeling?
I feel that character modeling like this is acting in slow motion, so to speak. On the other hand, acting might be described as fast, sustained modeling.
Tell me about the shoot, how was the experience like?
The shoot was a lot of setup. Tom has this method that requires a lot of fine adjustments at the start. Once all that is squared away, his vision becomes apparent and all the preparation that seems excessive starts to make sense. I confess I was confused about this the first time we shot together. I encourage everyone who works with Tom to bare with him. It’s worth it!
Tom has shared his recent issues with movement, did you help out during the shoot?
Tom asked me to help with some of the heavy moving of equipment, I didn’t mind. I’ve spent many years as a stage hand and I’m no stranger to some heavy lifting.
What is your favorite part about creating with Tom?
The best thing about Tom is his attitude. He’s enthusiastic about what he does and knows exactly what he’s after.
Do you often hear directly from those who enjoy your work?
I hear plenty from people directly and I do my best to answer every personal contact. I don’t always get to every single one but I do my best. I like connecting with people.
The Duelists seems to be going strong, how much did the pandemic impact your performance?
The Pandemic gave us a year off to reflect on our path forward and relax. It was precisely what we needed. We came back better than ever, we even debuted a new program that provides hands-on experience with medieval swordplay. We've also kept the Calendar sales up, and you can check out the 2023 edition, and all merchandise orders on Facebook, or send order requests to Randal@duelists.com
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