Robert J. Guttke: Thigh Master

'If it hurts, it looks good'

Robert J. Guttke

When artist photographer Robert John Guttke left us last year, I did a post celebrating his work and his relationship with myself and FH. (HERE:)  Over the years, Robert shared thousands of images with me.  He also shared what I think was an equal number of stories from his time shooting, sculpting and drawing the nude male form.  

'As my art professor once said, “the female figure is a ‘nude’, the male figure is ‘naked’. Even during a figurative sculpture competition, when sharing portfolios, I was told by another artist my nudes were really naked nudes .'

Robert was very careful to let me know which images I could, and could not share.  His reasons were not so much about the specific model, but how he felt about the quality of the image.  Robert spent countless hours scanning his images from film to digital.  This process was one he worked on over the years, and many of the first scans did not meet his standards.  He upgraded his scanner, and his skills, and let me know which images were good enough to print.

As much as I want to respect his legacy, and not go cray sharing all of the images he sent me, I also don't want to have the ones he was supportive of my posting go unseen. All of those hours of scanning were done with a goal.  Robert wanted his work seen, acknowledged and remembered.  He shared many himself on his blog and photography sites.  He also spoke often about wanting to compile them all into another book.  We actually worked together starting a book, beginning with is work with Ben Godfre.

One of the many subjects I liked to ask Robert about was his thoughts on pose.  As many of you know, Robert often put his models in risky situations, hanging from buildings, dangling from cranes and posing in glass filled rooms in abandoned factories and buildings.  Robert was a perfectionist, meaning models often had to hold their poses for extended periods of time.

'I have ALWAYS told the models “If it hurts, it looks good.” I’ve had models almost crawl out of my studio stating working with me should be an Olympic event. When my eye has ten seconds to scrutinize a figure before the model falls over, it is a race against time to get everything in the right place.'

Although it wasn't as risky as hanging from a crane, one of Roberts favorite poses was the crouch.  Robert loved every inch of the human body, both male and female, and loved showcasing each part in his images.   We all know how painful squats can be, which is why they're such great exercises, but holding a crouch or squat for long periods of time can be painful. 

When capturing body parts, especially genitals, it makes sense that models would often be required to pose with their legs open.  Robert however, actually cared very little about what the model's penis or vagina looked like.  He was interested in capturing their leg muscles, especially their thighs.  As you can see from these images, although the penis's look lovely, it's the legs and thighs that form the foundation for the pose.

That doesn't mean that Robert ignored the penis, like every part of the male form, he wanted it to look beautiful and proportionately in balance with the rest of the model's physique.  Robert however wasn't concerned about it's length, but it's beauty and how it's appearance contrasted with the rest of the body. That meant there was one part of the genitals he did encourage his models not to alter or mess with.

'I always encouraged models to keep their body hair. It's not just a masculine attribute, it adds visual texture. I work with how people present themselves… in some cases encouraging them to abstain from the razor. Lord, I’d sooner have hair than a series of red bumps.'

So no bumps, just beautiful architecturally created images of the male form.  There are a few other themes that Robert focused on, especially his work with water and fabric.  It takes time to go through all of the material Robert sent on, but I hope to share just a little bit more in the future. 

Guttke Classic Nudes