It's Raining

Steve Walker - Rain

 The unashamedly romantic and pretty images of Steve Walker are usually a delightful diversion from the casual lustfulness of the gay universe, but this image seems to play on that difference to sketch out two contrasting personalities gathered together under the one umbrella to shelter from the rain. The stances of the two men show the one's relaxed attitude compared with a tenser, but so determined, stance next to him. Their clothing suggests they have different attitudes to self-image and gay love. A hint of separation might mean that the clouds are not all up in the sky. 

Is this a coming together? A parting? Or just a passing squall?

Unseasonal

Second Skin

A simple image that stirs the senses,

 painted in autumnal tones by Christopher Furminger

 

Confinement

Nice colours again. This one predates the virus but is strangely apt.

The view of confinement equating to isolation in this bleak open wasteland

is a bit idiosyncratic though!

See more at mitchmen blog 

and at his art Gallery CL Furminger on P-interest

White and Tight for a reason

Erik by Rick Day

"Is that for real?" you might ask.

Maximillian Feres

"Hmmmm, not sure".

Maximillian's comfort fit is not without interest.

Men in underwear, what else need I say?

Wet, wet, wet, wet

 

There's a summery, wet thing going on here recently, 

what with all the swimmers I've featured.

This contender for wettest T-shirt sombrely marks 

the transition into the rainy season and autumn.

Wet shirts always flatter shapely figures

but this takes wetness to a different level. 

Sometimes getting wet is fun!

it helps if you're wearing someone else's clothes of course.

I like the way this models abs mirror the quilting of his jacket.

But does that make you think the jacket is waterproof?

 Sometimes getting wet isn't fun!

I'm not sure this is a good advert for a raincoat either.

To me it seems to say "Should have stayed at home".

Still it's a fabulous image.

Getting into the realms of torture here!

(or some hare-brained charity stunt).

Water cascading over men's bodies in showers is a familiar sight

but flooding the face seems much more disturbing

The rivulets draw out the model's facial contours beautifully 

but coupled with his less-than-cheerful reaction 

there's an uncomfortable comparison with floods of tears.

This great set of photographs entitled 'Waterfall' are the work of

Solve Sundsbo

Models: Matthew Terry, Matthew Noszka & Vitor Melo

For more wet or uncomfortable men, click on the labels below

The Way We Were?

Swimmers 1934, Halley Johnson (?)

This is an eerie perspective on Summers gone by

 with two (male) swimmers seemingly stranded on a tiny island

one looking distinctly stressed as he clutches his beach ball

while a yacht serenely passes by with no sign of a human crew

and above them a strangely disconnected moon 

looks down through a window torn in a darkening sky.

The styling of this image is striking, Deco? 

Maybe, but it's initial promise of charming, carefree nostalgia

seems to rapidly dissipate on closer inspection.

 I've not been able to fully verify the artist's identity,

 but the date (if true) suggests a further ominous spin on the mood.

Or are the long shadows and gusting breeze simply signalling sunset,

and the sorrowful ending of an idyllic day in paradise?

Sorry, no link available!

Life Saver

Alex Cairns by Armando Adajar

I have a weakness for beautiful men in swimming trunks.

Model Alex Cairns has the strong lean look of a true swimmer.

The lifebuoy he is holding suggests he's in a life-saving job 

but judging by the placid water in the pool, 

there are no customers to save just at the moment.

Giving him time to think exciting thoughts apparently.

(for more swimmers click on label below)

Silent Reflection

Gabriel Garbow - Silent Reflection

At this time of year thoughts turn to lazy days in and around water.

(in the Northern Hemisphere at least!)

Actually, the cool palette in this image does not conjure up a sunny day,

which makes the title seem all the more appropriate.

This seems like a natural pool in a wooded glade. 

A place of escape from the worries and pressure of life,

and the exhausting need to constantly enjoy and experience.

The serenity of the swimmer's face shows his calm pleasure

in simply doing nothing, a rich man indeed.

This artist has a passion for watery subjects

 including an obvious admiration for Scott-Tuke 

I suppose it's a bit chocolate-boxy but then again,

Who doesn't like chocolate once in a while?

Actually, there's possibly an allusion here to Millais' 'Ophelia'
which would assign a much darker overtone to both image and title. 

 see more at Gabriel Garbow on Instagram

Crouching Man

Fighter (?) by Dez

This is an interesting picture!

A man with a supremely muscular upper body and edgy hairstyle,

 his delicate bubble butt clad in snug-fitting 'Butt' brand undershorts,

crouches in the middle of a spotlight circle.

He has something of the air of a fighter 

 but two cold eyes staring at him from the darkness

seem to be either alarming or shocking him.

What does it mean?

I confess I don't know and I've not been able to track down more of Dez' work 

which might have shed some light on what he is all about.

Those eyes seem to have a dangerous, other-worldly, un-dead air.

Enough to make a strong man quail.

but maybe the explanation is more prosaic.

If you are into men, it's a great picture anyway

Bath Time

'Man in a Tub' by Philip Gladstone is one of a very long series of 'Tub' paintings,

variations on this mildly homoerotic subject which have cleverly judged palettes.

The finger tracing a line on the mirror is suggestive of reflection

or is it something more significant than that?

This prolific painter juggles many subjects and styles of art in such a colourful way

that it's hard to tell if his allusions and references are deep or merely entertaining.

Great images though!

Art by Philip Gladstone

Just Because

Keon Davis by diamondmenlive.com

In the present situation, I just felt like posting a picture I like
to show that some things are still enjoyable exactly as normal.
I love the 'grow-back ' on this man's chest! (click to expand!)

Muscular Sailor

Boimon (Boim) Solomon Samsonovich «Champion of the Cup» 1954

It gets boring on long voyages, a sailor getting some exercise and body building in.

By the Russian artist Boimon (Boim) Solomon Samsonovich (1899-1978) 
 The title is puzzling, is this a Navy Champion showing off to his shipmates
or an informal contest to be Champion of the Ship?

A nice picture at first sight, but it's actually rather flat and puzzling on closer inspection. His crew-mates look on with interest but are noticeably separated and detached. Two men are stripped to the waist but the rendering of their bodies is scrupulously proper and vague. Compare with Animal Strength which is similarly distantly observed, but infuses much more masculine interest in the half stripped figure. You get the feeling the artist in 'Champion' is trying to say something but cannot bring himself to articulate it. The pose of the seated figure, perhaps, hints at greater interest and deeper 'emotions'.

This artist's painting often have a strong nautical flavour, but are usually more panoramic in style than this one, somewhat in the vein of Dutch Marine paintings showing general activity on the water. There is another somewhat like this, however, seen below.

 

Boimon (Boim) Solomon Samsonovich - "Telnyashka" (1953)

'Telnyashka' is the Russian name for the undershirt this rating is washing on the deck. 
It's a similarly tantalising image from a gay point of view. 

Samsonovich had a distinguished career in the Soviet Art Establishment producing numerous images in the prescribed style of the regime showing ordinary people and heroic military types (see Boimon (Boim) Solomon Samsonovich). However in early 1953 Stalin died and the regime changed. These two images immediately follow that momentous event and one might suppose that there's an inkling of liberation in these pictures. The commentary at the link above gives no clue to this but if you check the other paintings shown there you will see another powerful interest running through his work which I'm not going to specify here but which seem to warrant comparison with Scott-Tuke. 

Sultry Office Hunk

(model and photographer not identified)

Even if he's fully clothed this is a great picture of the office hunk as you'd like him to be.
The tight-fitting clothing is very 'mitchmen' and would turn many heads.

The open neck reveals little except some attractive chest 'grow-back'

but it seems to create a curious disconnection of the head.

as though it's bursting out of the tightly buttoned up clothing.

The braces make a nice pairing for my 'Pants Dropper' picture for October 2019

The Enigma of Super Strength

Julia Cross - 'Herakles' Avengers Tarot card

A curious take on the Avengers family of superheroes.

Amid the ruins of another beaten villain's empire,

Captain America strips naked to befriend a baby lion.

He's painted as Vulnerable, soft and cuddly, 

but I just wonder, why?
Likewise Herakles (Hercules)?

The allusion to Tarot Cards seems to invoke fateand the workings of destiny
which seems a contradiction for a character so clearly in control of himself.

It's a nice image though. with attractive flesh tones

The technique is also quite interesting, 

The design borrowed from from the early 1900's

predates Captain America, methinks.

Perhaps I'm missing something.

 The other images in the Tarot series of Julia Cross
 are rather less interesting from a mitchmen point of view.