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Sunday, July 16, 2023
Strike A Pose!
I've thankfully only been on strike once, and my picket line sadly never had any shirtless hotties like Derek Yates to provide motivation. Then again, I walked a picket line in snow and sub-zero temperatures in the middle of January. It's in the 80's in Los Angeles this week, so Derek yanked off his shirt for the cause!
After seeing these shots on the actor and model's social media pages this week, I knew it was time, not just to take a closer look at his body, but of his body of work. Check it out on the NEXT PAGE HERE:
Favorite Face of the Day: Andre Khabbazi
So... this is another post that took a turn, a change of direction from where it started, to where it ended up. It began with an image of shirtless hottie on Twitter. The shot (3 shots below) was the scan of a magazine from a soap opera magazine. The hot torso grabbed me, as did the main caption, 'Hates Shirts?'
I thought I recognized the beautiful hottie, but when reading article, started to think maybe I wasn't so sure. I have watched 'The Young and the Restless' at different times over the years, but don't think I ever saw him on the show, nor recognized his name, Andre Khabbazi. I checked out his IMDB page, and there were several other soap roles, again, none of which I'd ever seen the hot actor in.
Then, on Andre's IMDB pate it hit me. The shirtless hottie was in the 2001 gay themed film Circuit. Some of you might be remember seeing, or at least hearing about Circuit, as it marked the feature film directing debut of writer, and former Playgirl man of the year Dirk Shafer, who I interviewed on FH HERE.
I didn't really remember much about the film or Andre's role. I think I remember seeing it on VHS or on late night TV when I was younger,. I saw clips of it again about 12 years ago, and did a small piece on star Jonathan Wade-Drahos. Seeing the shirtless shot of Andre however, had me thinking a re-watch was more than in order.
The Men of Y & R by Charlie Lapson
Check out more of Andre, and my look back at Circuit on the NEXT PAGE HERE:
Robert John Guttke: Body Sculptures
'He must have painted you from memory... astonishing really!'
I received an e-mail early last month that artist Robert J. Guttke had passed away. Robert had told me he was ill, had been for awhile, but the news still came as a shock. I know many of you know Robert's work, and FH viewers knew I was fortunate to have featured his work many times between 2012 and 2018. (HERE:) Robert was more than a contributor to the site, he began a friend.
I was first connected with Robert back in 2012 when photographer Dylan Rosser asked me to interview him for tMf magazine. The relationship took awhile too click, Robert didn't trust just anyone with his story, or his work, and was very particular with what was said and presented. Thankfully, I soon gained his trust and for many years after, contacted me almost daily.
Robert read FH every week, and didn't always like everything I presented and wrote. He didn't shy away from telling me when I was being lazy, or coitizing certainly models or photographers I was featuring. I welcomed his feedback, especially about my writing. Robert was an artist in the true sense of the word. Known to many as a photographer of the male form, Robert also drew, sculped and wrote. The quote at the top of this post comes from an episode, When the Blue Bird Sings, from the series Beauty and the Beast that Robert wrote.
Robert was always sending me things. Not physical things, but things I need to see, things I needed to watch and things I needed to read. Because of my love of holidays, he sent lists of classic movies that he said I 'needed' to watch for each holiday. He sent book recommendations, and links to models and photographers he thought I should feature.
Robert also included an image in each of his e-mails, a closing visual just below his signature. About fifty percent were Robert's own images of the male form. Many however, were also of the female form, Robert loved body sculptures, regardless of their body parts. Some of the images were movie posters, book covers, famous sculptures and images he'd taken in London, a place he knew I wanted to visit. Many were images of his beloved cats, some looking as they were professionally shot. Most, shot as if taken by a loving pet parent.
It took me a few weeks to gather images that I felt comfortable including in this piece. Robert was clear to tell me which photos I might use on FH, and which I could not. He always told me why. There were many male models in particular, who shot nudes only for Robert. They liked his style, and the locations he shot. Those, Robert didn't want shared. There were a few from very religious models, who shot strictly to show their girlfriends, or to capture their body at their peak. Those, I could not share.
Thankfully, although I hadn't saved all of his e-mails, I did save some of my favorite images, and only the ones that were ok to share. Now Robert's stories were a whole other thing. Robert shared so many stories about his models. I remember one about a particular female model who was sleeping with three of the male models he was shooting. None of the guys knew, and all came to their shoots sharing stories about the amazing woman they were now seeing and falling in love with.
So many of Robert's stories involved meeting models. Robert's career began before we were all on-line and connecting via model sites and social media. Robert met his models the old fashioned way, by going up to strangers, and asking if they'd be up for posing nude. He did it at gyms, on the street, and his favorite place, in the park. Robert said there were always hot guys playing sports or running in the park, and it was there, he had the most luck finding models to shoot.
Robert had several places he loved to shoot. One of his favorites, was a ammo factory where so many of his early shoots took place. Images of naked men hanging off the sides of buildings, off machinery and old tires. You can check out some of my favorite shots from the ammo factory on the NEXT PAGE HERE:
You can also check out my previous posts featuring his work on FH HERE: Robert's blog, Guttke's Classic Nudes is also still up. Robert spent house scanning his old film images to add to his site. You can take a look HERE:
Bookworm: Sergey by Richard Rothstein
'Books are a uniquely portable magic.'
Stephen King
Writing about photographer Robert J. Guttke today had me thinking about books. Not only the many books he suggested I read, but his bookworm series of images. Combining passions is a gift photographers get to both give and receive, especially when weaving two specific and singular loves, into one artist vision.
Like so many others, I love both both reading and books, and visuals of the male form. My love of stories, and storytelling, is one of the reasons I continue to love working on FH. One of my favorite storytellers is photographer Richard Rothstein. If you've been a regular reader of the site, you know that Richard's images and shoots always tell a very distinct and intentional story.
One of the muses who inhabits so many characters in Richard's stories is model Serg Shepard. Serg has acted as both as inspiration and as the medium in the telling of many tales. For many, there is nothing erotic about a night with a good book, but with the right book, and the right reader, a night of page turning can be incredible sensual and satisfying.
In addition to just the right book, maybe a romance, a mystery or a historical dramas, you need to create just the right atmosphere. A glass of wine perhaps, just the right lighting, and a comfortable place to lie down, relax, and take a deep dive into another place, another time, another world.
This series of images are actually the final shots in series Richard shot at the historic Jane Hotel in New York. Although Richard's shoots are currently on pause, these shots of Sergey are new, and were taken just before Richard took a break. I'll share the rest of the shoot soon, but thought these were perfect to showcase on their own. Be sure to check out much more of Sergey, both images and videos on his OnlyFans HERE:
Richard Rothstein on Instagram
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