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Thursday, July 13, 2023
Kleine Haie 1992
'When dishwasher Ingo, whose girl-friend has just left him, returns a borrowed bar stool to the Folkwang Acting School in Essen, he stumbles into the audition for next year's new students. '
Ingo (Jürgen Vogel) ends up letting Johannes, (Kai Wiesinger) a broke and unsuccessful acting applicant, stay with him. Ingo decides to go to Munich with Johannes, where he wants to try his luck once again. Hitchhiking, they get rides with very different drivers on the autobahn. During the trip, they meet up with the smooth-talking Ali, (Gedeon Burkhard) and after arriving in Munich, the trio tries to find cheap sleeping accommodation. They enter Ingo into the audition at Munich acting school, and Johannes falls in love with street artist Herta from Berlin.
Given I love images of the male form, in photographs, drawings and on film, I had to feature this scene. The caps are from the 1992 German comedy Kleine Haie (Little Sharks) and I first I saw caps from the film on DC. Thanks to Albert who posted the film for me to check out, and to xyzpdq who had a clip!
Suits & Skins
'The interesting thing about coaching is that you have to trouble the comfortable, and comfort the troubled.'
When I was looking for images for my recent post spotlighting wrestling coaches, (Careers to Consider) I stumbled upon a few cmnm (clothed male/nude male) images from the locker room. I love cmnm shots, but am not really a big fan of how cmnm is currently captured, and the films and adult sites that focus on the theme.
Most of these sites ignore the main reason the theme and images are popular with many. They're more interested in using it simply to get to sex. For me, the theme is compelling not because of sex, but because it really has nothing to do with sex. It's about visual contrast and most of all vulnerability. Sure, many of the nude men may have an exhibitionist streak, and enjoy being seen, but that doesn't diminish how exposed they are with their clothed counterpart.
My favorite cmnm shots were older, vintage shots. This series, features athletes with their couches and with sports reporters. They were taken in by the pool, by the court, in the locker room before or after a game. They were taken during a time when coaches and reporters wore suits and ties to work, a time before digital photography and before everyone had a camera phone of their own.
Most of these images were taken with the athletes feeling completely comfortable being naked in front of others, with little fear the images taken would ever be seen by many. Some are stills from sports interviews, other just candid photos meant to be seen only by a few.
I remember playing hockey and other sports in the late 80's and early 90's. No one worries when they walked around nude in the locker room, someone was going to pull out a camera. Today, in addition to their undies and wallets, every athlete also shoves their phone in their locker before heading out on to the ice, on to the field, or into the ring.
With everyone having a camera, we certainly see a lot more nakedness overall, but in many ways, the quantity has in so many ways had an impact on quality. There are certainly tons of nude locker room shots out there, but few quite capture a specific time, place and a specific innocence about nudity that these images do.
There are a few other variations on this theme I'm hoping to explore, but it's quite hard finding just the right images. So many are from adult sites and porn, and although some are quite hot, they're not really hat I'm looking for. As far as I could tell from my research, I believe these shots are all authentic and taken 'in the moment' and not staged for a site.
Virtual Vacations: Langkawi with Stephan Tobias
'Taking nude pictures of each other there became our way of paying tribute to the beauty of the place and the experience.'
One of my favorite parts of working on FH, is the virtual, and visual vacations I get to experience thanks to the models and artists I follow. FH has traveled across the globe featuring models, photographers and shoots taken on each of the world's seven continents. In many cases, the locations are new to me, and so many are on my bucket list of places I hope one day to visit.
Through his work, artist and model Stephan Tobias has taken me to some of the most breathtaking places that I've been fortunate to feature and learn about. As both photographer and model, FH has joined Stephan to various lakes, museums and factories in Berlin, the Castello Lighthouse, the Italian Island of Ischia and the stunning coastline along the Gulf of Finland.
Today, Stephan invites us to join him during a trip to visit one of his friends in Langkawi. Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah is an island part of a cluster and chain of over 100 islands located about 30 km off the coast of northwestern Malaysia. Some of the islands in the cluster are only visible when it's low tide in the Strait of Malacca.
Stephan's friends was house sitting a recently built brand new villa on the island of Langkawi. Given the stunning visuals behind and surrounding Stephan's stunning form, it's easy to understand why the island is one of Malaysia's prime tourist destinations.
'The owners had chosen a wonderful place for their new property, close to the jungle and overlooking a small bay on the east coast of the island. Highlight of it all for me was the pool and the terrace around it, which offered a charming view and a nice place for relaxing at all times of the day and night in wonderful tropical conditions. '
In addition to the breathtaking visuals, you can almost feel the sense of calm and tranquility in the location. You can also feel both the heat from the sun, and the rush of coolness when Stephan dives into the villa's pool to cool off. These shots were taken by Stephan's friend, and each took turns shooting the other during their time together. Stephan did send on a few shots of his friend, but he's a little shy and preferred to remain on the sidelines, at least for now...
'This charming spot, in spite of our many beautiful other island explorations, became the center of the universe for me during this stay of 10 days. We could hang around nude there too, with exception of some daytime hours, when local workers were pursuing the completion of two side buildings.'
'Taking nude pictures of each other there became our way of paying tribute to the beauty of the place and the experience. Life is about enjoying the moment. '
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