Post Mardi Gras - Summer's Going out with a Bang not a Whimper

I was enticed out to the Mardi Gras party at the last moment - a friend (yes, that's you C. C.!) sweetly offered to get the tickets on the afternoon of the day.

Next day, another buddy sent me a bunch of photos of the pre-party Parade.

And, now that the squillions of Mardi Gras posts are over, I could consider a final one!

And, if I were going to post any of these photos, what would I start with but Parade People Highlights, such as the 'Priscilla Cast Duplicates' - Bernadette and the 'Chorus Fragment':



And follow that by:



Obviously a spontaneous moment, not posed in any way!

And then finish up with another classic (I know just how far I can push this particular post!):



But these fireworks continued, even after the Party:






Can't decide which is more spectacular: our parade efforts or those of the gods.

The Warren Cup (Roman, mid-1st century AD) - Antique Domestic Silver

The Warren Cup - Silver, Roman Mid-First Century BC (H:11 cm D: 9.9 cm) - British Museum

I confess I have a particularly strong feeling for ancient domestic objects, as opposed to 'great art'. The marble sculptures of the Parthenon are all very nice in their way (!), but, for me, there is something more effecting and intimate about objects such as The Warren Cup, a Roman silver cup in a Hellentistic (Greek) style. And of course part of its attraction must be its gay subject.

The cup takes it name from its first modern owner, the art collector Edward Perry Warren (1860-1928). And has only been in the public arena since the 1980's, when it was acquired by the British Museum.

It is said to have been found in Bittir (ancient Bethther), near Jerusalem. Questions immediately arise. How did it get to the Middle East? Or was it locally made? What kind of people owned it? What were their lives like? Did they lead an openly gay life, given this piece of their dinnerware? Or was the cup something only privately used? Or was it only for display? Was it part of a larger silver service and what would the other pieces have been like? Do they still survive somewhere, as yet undiscovered? And these questions simply don't arise for 'great art'. Well, not many at least.

What is particularly beautiful about this object is the presentation of its erotic scenes.

One 'side' of the cup (above and below, including two more detailed photographs) shows two beautiful men reclining on a couch. There is a younger beardless man (the passive eromenos or 'beloved') lying back against the head and chest of an older bearded man (the active erastes).

They are intimately and lovingly entwined. The youth gently rests his hand on that of the older man. And drapes his right leg over that of the other, so his bare butt naturally fits into the other's crotch. Though it's difficult to see, I think the youth is being fucked. But to indicate the loving quality of the sex , the older man nestles his laurel-wreathed head into the hollow of the youth's back, between his shoulder blades.


The two even more detailed views:

The beautiful diaphanous Hellenic (Greek) draperies add to the sensation of langorous gentleness. Draped over the younger guy's outstretched left arm and the older's left shoulder, the textiles are so organised so as not to obscure their bodies too much. The Hellenistic motives are repeated in the lyre (kithara) resting on a chest, and the pipes (auloi) suspended over the cloth over the wall.

Another side of the cup (below) shows an even younger man lying on his stomach on a draped couch, with an older lifting the youth's leg, to show his cock. And threading his own leg in-between, up to the butt crack. Preparing to fuck. Or has it already begun? Don't know.


Here, all seems to be done in a gentle even caring way. The young man looks relaxed - his hands tensionlessly folded. He almost seems unaware of what is about to happen. His head slightly turned to the left and up, perhaps watching what the first couple are doing.

There is a third figure in the initial scene, someone I haven't mentioned. It's a man, who peers round a door he's just opened to watch the initial couple in sex. As does the younger man in the second scene. The Peeping Tom smiles at what he sees - he is amused, but there is nothing sleazy in his reaction:

So I guess what's special about this piece of ancient silver is that it shows that homosexual eroticism can be imagined in sweet, gentle and even loving terms. While still remaining sexually charged and arousing to the viewer. And I am in no way critical of rough and raunchy sex. Everything can depend on the mood, and the guy.

Artiface and Naturalism in Black and White Photography

Photographers have a range of vectors they can manipulate when creating a picture. There is the content (or choice of subject and setting), the formal organisation of the elements of the composition, the lighting and so on. In any shot, all or fewer of these can be brought into play, and will be 'organised' in some way. The only essential is the selection of subject and setting - even filming the most candid moment of 'real' life involves a decision with respect to this. And what's interesting is the degree to which any resultant photograph explicitly demonstrates the choices made in any of these areas.

But what is particularly fascinating to me is how the bringing into play and manipulation of any/all of these vectors position any resultant photograph somewhere on a cline (or gradient) from artiface/stylisation to naturalism.

So I started to wonder about this in the context of black and white male nudes.

One starting point is the figure itself. And how its form can be more or less 'natural'. Of the poses below, would I do any of them in my usual (or unusual!) daily activities? Going to the bathroom? Or in bed? Or any place where I'm naked?





I probably wouldn't manage a single one, unless I was feeling particularly mad that day. Though there are aspects in each that seem natural, such as the stretching yawn in the middle picture. But probably not usually done standing up with one leg elegantly bent! So the form choices here position the pics at the artiface end of the scale.

Part of the artiface of these pictures also involves another vector - setting. The choice of a neutral or minimal background leads to stylisation and away from life. Once the everyday world is added, as below, artiface is somewhat diminished, even when the figures are still formally posed:




There is, of course, an interesting tension now in these shots between the contrived poses and the ordinary everyday-ness of the settings.

Returning to the form of the figure, there is a kind of naturalness that can be introduced if the model is caught in a moment of an everyday activity, with understood actions before and after:




Though there is something in these particular works that tells you the photographer is probably yelling from the side 'Just a bit more to the right. Yes, that's it! Don't move'. Something in the self-consciousness of the subjects themselves. And their express awareness of the presence of the photographer, even when not gazing out of the frame at us.

Naturalism diminishes dramatically when the lens is being oggled:




Though, there will be shots where such a direct gaze can be 'real' or seemingly natural.

Lighting, as a vector, can obviously be crafted to position a work on the natural-stylisation cline. Here, decisions with respect to this element enhance artiface, as does the contrived stance of the model, and the neutral and minimal setting:


And content can be selected to place pictures variously on the spectrum. With everything else kept constant, a highly buffed and enamelled supermodel positions a pic more to one end, and a rough bloke (like me!) to the other:


Though a certain artiface creaps in with his rapturous contemplation of his own dick? Well, if I looked like this guy and had his dick, maybe I would quite naturally do this! And often!

And odd how rough is more natural - I guess we don't spontaneously identify with the fabulously good-looking model.

A final point. In relation to composition, the degree of close-up can intensify the artiface.

In the first photograph below, we are actually too close to easily 'understand' the scene. Or maybe it's not a scene at all but an 'artifical' composition, constructed from a number of subjects simply feeding in hands, arms, stomachs, whatever. Or perhaps a collage of some sort. It's hard to finally know.




Postscript. Of course black and white photography is in itself a choice. And these days, such a medium decision is the more unusual choice, with respect to colour. And puts any B and W photographs towards the art-artiface end of things.

John Amaechi - Principle and a US Basket Ball Player (Retired)

I was flicking around the channels on TV a couple of days ago and happened on an interview with ex-NBL player, John Amaechi. He was doing the rounds of the chat shows for his newly-published autobiography, 'Man in the Middle'.

There were two things that prompted me to do a post on this event. Well, three if you count the post-script.

Of course, the fact that he had come out as gay in the book was great.

But the thing that really caught my attention was his response to the interviewer's question about not taking up a multi-million dollar contract with the Lakers early in his career. And his decision to stay with the team he started out with for $600, 000 pa.

Amaechi said the choice was a matter of principle. His first team had taken a chance on him and he wanted them to share in the rewards when his career began to blossom. The interviewer pressed the point, asking if it was not a risky choice given that a less-than-absolutely-top team could impede his fame. Impressively, Amaechi replied that what mattered to him was acting on principle without reference to outcomes and surities, or the possibility of others not responding in kind.

Now cynics might say that what was lost on this Laker contract would be well-made up in sponsorships, advertising work, public appearances, and so on. But promising careers do not always fully materialise. Among other things, there is the real danger of career-ending injuries. And a multi-mill in your pocket is mighty tempting. Plus the not-inconsiderable kudos of being in the Lakers, a childhood dream of this player.

So bravo and all power to John Amaechi, a real hero!

As a postscript, there was a silly response to Amaehi's coming out from a fellow-retired player. Saying he didn't like being around gay poeple, that they shouldn't be in the world (now what does that mean!) and certainly not on his team. No need to say anything about someone just making a complete dill of himself. If you ignore someone like this long enough, then they simply cease to exist! What was that bigotted player's name? Just can't remember!

So it was John Amaechi's bigness of perspective here that caught my imagination. It gives me an alternative way of acting in situations like this. I find I can react too strongly and too directly. And I end up getting all riled up and not as effective in my necessary response - be it a letter, and email, a blog post, a chat with others, whatever.

So again, thanks John. A hero and a big man.

'Lady with an Ermine' (1482-5) and 'La Belle Ferroniere' (1490-96) - Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Leonardo da Vinci painted only three portraits of women: 'La Belle Ferroniere', 'Lady with an Ermine' and ... what was the name of the other one ... ... oh yes, I remember, 'Mona Lisa'.

'La Belle Ferronierre' (c1490-96) by Leonardo da Vinci, Czartoryski Museum, Krawkow Poland

'Lady with an Ermine' (c1482-5) by Leonardo da Vinci, Le Louvre, Paris

The first portrait is of a lady whose identity is in doubt. She was most probably a noblewoman of the Milanese court.

The work was was initially catalogued in the French royal collection as 'La Belle Ferronière', when (mistakenly) thought to be of the mistress of the French king, Francis 1. The 'ferronierre' of the title also refers to a type of ornament (a jewel on a chain) that was worn by women in France and Italy in the C15 to cover syphillic leasions. And perhaps its inclusion warns of the dangers of extramarital sex.

I won't say much more about this portrait because it bears such a striking resemblance to the second in terms of its composition and features.

I unexpectedly saw this second portrait on a visit to the Czartoryski Museum, Krakow, Poland. The work is of Cecilia Gallerani, the 17 year old mistress of Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Milan.

It was painted by Leonardo twenty years before 'Mona Lisa', and has been referred to as the first modern portait. First in the sense that it engages in a degree of individualisation and of psychological revelation, with respect to the sitter, that seems quite modern. As opposed to simply presenting her status in her world, her physical beauty, and so on.

There are a number of things that strike me as immediately beautiful about this portrait.

Firstly, its seemingly uncontrived triangular composition, in part constructed through the dramatic twisting round of the body towards the low light source on the right, so both shoulders slope more down as do the sides of the triangle.

Then there is the dramatic chiaroscuro or use of light and shadow. This effect has been unnaturally enhanced when the restorer darkened the background (see more below). And this simplifying actually adds, happily to me, to the focus on the sitter.

Finally, there is the delicious contrast of textures: her flesh, the different fabrics of her clothing and the fur of the ermine. In fact, the creature is a white ferret, though described as an ermine because the Latin for this more regal animal ('galee' or 'galay') pun's with the woman's family name (Gallerani).

X-rays reveal the work has been extensively over-painted in its restoration. The back ground has been darkened, removing, among other things, a door. The sitter's headgear has been painted the same colour as her hair, leading to the impression that these strands somehow tuck under her chin. The fingers (particularly the bottom two) have been coursened by the re-touching. And so on.

In 1933, Rouben Mamoulian directed Greta Garbo to simply stare into the distance in the famous final shot of 'Queen Christina':


He felt this allowed the audience to project emotion onto her blank face, universalising the expression with respect to the viewer.

There is something of the same effect in these two portraits by Leonardo. So much for the new represention of 'psychological revelation' claimed for Leonardo's work!

Unexpected Limitations to One's Obligations

In the First Years

It happened late one night. Some years ago.

I remember coming home after catching up with some friends at a gay bar on Oxford Street. I was tired and didn't know whether or not to risk a coffee. And was debating the point and half watching the news on TV. You know, the easy way to appear informed.

Quite suddenly and noisily, it seemed as though the flat was being broken into. I was on the ground floor and the intruder had climbed onto the balcony. But he just moved conspiciously round. And the thought actually occurred to me that I was about to be attacked by a wild unthinking beast - but it was the thought that was wild, rather than the creature.

This delusion was followed after a few minutes by some rather polite knocking on the balcony door!

Of course - it was David Z's modus operandi. Appearing unannounced often after a silence of years, and needing all sorts of help. Even after a big season with 'Paris Planning', his modeling agency in Paris.

Two Photos from David's Advertising Flyer for 'Paris Planning' Model Agency, Paris

So David moved in.

Using the Car on a Late Visit

But after some weeks, again determined that Sydney could not meet his needs. The usual arrangements were made to finance him out of debt and back overseas. And the mixed farewell at the door was preceded by the ubiquitous turning out of the suitcase to retrieve all those things that had quite unaccountably fallen in. Accompanied by the embarrassed giggles and implausible explanations.

A photo shoot with Scott Hicks, Director of the film 'Shine' (Best Actor Oscar won by Jeffrey Rush)

An aspect of this situation made me think of one of the main themes in the Edward Albee play ‘A Delicate Balance’. It is the limits of our obligations to others, and in particular, to closest friends. David had been a kind of boyfriend, well, as much as a straight guy can be, one who has lived with another guy for five years and called him his partner.

With William - Very Early Days

Being Silly in a Photo Booth

The main action of the play involves an older wealthy cosmopolitan couple, who are unexpectedly visited one night at home by their two closest friends, a similarly positioned husband and wife. The guests tell of being at home, and of the crisis they experienced of a rising, unspecified and acute anxiety. Their two best friends were obviously the only people to turn to, they say.

Then and in a quite matter-of-fact manner, the refugees begin to make the necessary arrangements for moving in - for the foreseeable future. They assume their friends share the same view of things, and that they are welcome. Mi casa tu casa.

But as the evening progresses, our initial protagonists realize they are not happy with this state of affairs, and they begin to question its thesis. Albee has set up the plot in rather extreme terms to explore the point. The couples, in various combinations of twos and threes and fours, investigate the issue, and come to the realization that there are unexpected limits to their obligations to their nearest and dearest.

Which brings me back to my prowler.

Photo from David's Advertising Flyer for 'Paris Planning' Model Agency, Paris

I remembered the play some contactless years later when David’s next phone call woke me early one morning. And having since moved, but retained my old phone number, I saw the potential of this new scenario. Not only of retracting from my duty but of making a complete break. I had a new partner.

In a strong supposed Russian accent, I declared I was the new owner of my old address and that I had no knowledge of myself or my whereabouts. There were some moments of confusion – probably due to the unconvincing nature of my impersonation. I finally rang off, red faced. And made all clear for my puzzled boyfriend.

I still feel uncomfortable about the manner but not the outcome of the break.

And a little disconcerted by such an epiphany. But Jean Paul Sartre exhorts us to make choices that did not involve 'mauvais foi' (bad faith) - choices that involve us acting simply as unthinking socialised beings. Actions should spring from us reflecting on a real sense of ourselves.