'Pluck Me!'
Today, most of us don't think too much about the time and work that goes into bringing a big bird into our homes and spreadeagled on our dining room table. The connection from farm to home isn't a direct one, and there are many barbaric steps in the middle. When it comes to plucking a turkey, you have to start by boiling the bird. If you don't moisten the skin, you'll tear the meat apart when you yank out the feathers.
While plucking a turkey is work and unpleasant, feathering a hot piece of meat is a lot more fun. Many of you know the history of Thanksgiving Turkeys, FH and photographer Tom Nakielski from Lights On Studio. It began back in 2019 when I asked Tom if he'd actually consider photographing a nude male model with a real turkey for the holiday.
There were actually a couple of reasons why I asked Tom such a challenging task. The first, was my inspiration. If you Google, 'vintage Hollywood Thanksgiving', you'll see dozen of images of actress's from vintage Hollywood, posing with real turkeys for Thanksgiving promotional photos. I often search for vintage holiday imagery for the site, and became a little fixated on replicating one of these shots with a nude male model.
I was also aware that Tom had used birds and animals in previous shoots for the site. This stemmed from Tom's early work shooting children and calendars, and using baby chicks and rabbits for the shoots. Tom had connections with farms and pet stores, and the shoots usually ended up finding the furry and featured models homes. If anyone knew where to 'rent' a live turkey for the day, I was sure it was Tom.
Some of you might remember from a story back in 2019, (Tom Turkey) that the shoot 'almost' happened. Tom had a turkey connection, and actually picked up the turkey from a farm and had it home in his garage. Unfortunately, the model, the skin wearing human male model, not the feather donning male model, had to cancel at the last moment. Despite his attempts to find another model, no one was able to come that day.
Although the turkeys seemed quite chilled, and was bonding with Tom, (could have been the blueberry treats Tom was giving him) we didn't want to create any additional stress on the bird, so decided it was best to return him to the farm. No worries, the turkey wasn't going to be plucked or eaten, he was part of a fun farm that kids and families visit.
Well, then I had had another one of my brilliant ideas and believe it or not, this created more work for Tom, than dealing with an actual turkey. It meant finding turkey feathers, lots of cardboard, and hours and hours of burning his finger tips using the glue gun. The results however, were spectacular as most of you saw when I featured Tom's work with Tony and his Turkey costume back on Thanksgiving in 2021.
As much time, work and creativity as it took, feathering up Tony was a lot less painful, and a lot more fun, than plucking a bird for Thanksgiving dinner. So.. if there's a lesson here it's this. Order Tai or Chinese food, save a turkey, and find a hot naked hunk to hard and feather instead.
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