The Hold-Up by Hussar Studio

A Scene From 'The Hold-Up' by Hussar

 In it's day, Hussar was at the cutting edge of gay, photographic art, transforming the stale clichés of physique photography into action scenes inspired by movie techniques. Their trademark, tight-fitting trousers and skimpy shorts presented the male form in a way that was more relatable to real life but outraged the authorities.

In 'The Hold-Up', two sailors are attacked by a thug but manage to turn the tables on him, stripping him of his leathers and knocking him out. You can read the whole story at the Royale/Hussar blog, photo-set 52 The Hold Up

Up For Sale

Shanghaied Sailor by Royale

 A slave auction as seen by Royale Studio in 1960 and re-interpreted by AI.

It's part of their adventure story called 'Shanghaied Sailor' that gives a novel answer the age old poser - What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor? Unexpectedly it's set not in Old Marrakesh nor anywhere else in the Arab world but in the West Indies, providing a remarkable reversal of stereotyping.

See the whole 'Shanghaied Sailor' story at the Royale Studio blog

Vintage Wrestling

 An image from a recently reassembled, wrestling photo set, produced by the British, vintage, Royale Studio in 1959. It shows the models Brian Lamprill (top) and Tibor Urgay grappling in various poses contrived to avoid frontal exposure and suggestive contact. This one looks a bit of a stalemate!

Royale Studio and it's later incarnation, Hussar Studio, had a brief existence from 1957-63 but reputedly bore the brunt of the arbitrary actions by the British authorities to suppress any form of homosexual expression. They were not the only studio to produce images like this and never featured explicit frontal shots but, uniquely amongst British Studios of the time, they produced photo sets showing men dressed or partly dressed in British military uniforms (tailored to fit tightly) and often involving in corporal punishment scenarios. This seems to have attracted special attention from the Police who confiscated offending material at whim.

This image is taken from the new Royale Studio Open Archive which is attempting to assemble as complete a collection as possible of the Studio's images. 

This particular set is No 37, Urgay v Lamprill 

Unapproved School by Royale Studio

Royale Studio - Unapproved School

The mitchmen Royale Studio Open Archive, a project to compile a comprehensive collection of images by the legendary 50's pioneers of British gay photography has now transferred from the mitchmen blog to a new dedicated blog and gallery. The site is still in the process of building ,but you can see what has been created so far at 

The Royale Studio Open Archive