Priapus of Milet - Shooting The Past 2

Read Part 1 of this article

Shooting The Past 1 - image 44

When the photographer moves on to Workman No 2, he appears to be made of sterner stuff than his colleague at first sight. Yet he too is persuaded to strip off his shirt and perform a series of butch poses paying tribute to Herb Ritt's famous 'Hunk with Tyres' image*. Despite his massive bulk he's dwarfed by the engineering behind him and his muddy tyres seem slightly incongruous in comparison.

Both musclemen are pretty much cast as minions of 'The Great Machine'.

(*Coincidentally I also posted a picture here recently showing Jase Dean recreating this image)

Shooting The Past 1 - image 62

That all changes when he strips off completely and sparks fly. It's a magical moment. The industrial process shown here is typically associated with iron and steel making but the cascading stream of molten metal is the colour of liquid gold. It seems to fall at his feet like a tribute. Even the pouring bucket seems to be bowing in deference to him.

The pouring stream forms a pleasing inverted-triangle shape with his legs. It's dangerous convergence is not without erotic ambiguity either. In the next picture in the series (not included here), it seems to pour directly into his body and groin like an energising force.

This is a very clever and memorable picture. It casts the model's natural grandeur in a doubly heroic light by drawing on the gigantic scale and raw, dangerous, energy of the plant around him. It's also the climax of his own teasing flirtation with the photographer.

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The two, naked workmen join forces to create a memorable Blacksmith, forging moment. This could easily be the Smith and his apprentice from an old legend restoring a magical weapon.  The background has become murkier and more distant and has changed to a more complex, smaller scale, almost creating the illusion of an ancient, sacred temple. What better for hosting this most manly and ancient of rites? A channelling of raw, human strength into metal.

As they work, the sparks fly even closer to their sensitive areas and the suggestive positioning of the forging workman's tong handles plus the assistant's hand nearby, reaching out and gripping his own, chunky, hammer handle seem to be heading us in an equally sizzling direction. But the men themselves seem to be unaware of it, preoccupied with the chain they are making (or repairing).

Even without the coded sexual signals this is a great erotic picture in a much broader sense. There's a marvellous feeling of unselfconscious, shared purpose and working together and their nudity makes it an intimate moment and compelling to watch. The lighting of the scene, particularly the left hand figure is simply beautiful and adds to that sense of intimacy. But there's no question who's in charge here and it's entirely consistent with the character development we've seen up to this point,

but the flying sparks hint at simmering rivalry.

This depiction of the cult of bodybuilding expressed through 'real' men working in a relatively primitive, heavy industrial context gives the scenario a spine-tingling dimension of swirling natural forces and barely-controlled danger. Fantasy and superhero scenarios often seek to create this too but for most of us lack the credibility to do it successfully.

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Having established in Part 1 that the first workman had a youthful streak of daring, this lassoing prank is not entirely unexpected and a 'tug of war' is a predictable form of play for two muscular friends. But the trapping of the Smith with the chain he has just himself made, escalates the playful challenge from a simple battle of strength, into a struggle with overtones of domination. You can read in their expressions that it's not so very light-hearted. Perhaps there is a rivalry for the attentions of the photographer. The smoke behind the mischief maker hints at serious intentions while the red hot, open furnace raging behind the 'captive' seems to express the heat of his embarrassment.

Shooting The Past 2 - image 07

The upstart seems to chain the newly-proclaimed hero to the block or is it just muscle-play? In previous images these chains can be seen attached to either end of the block for lifting so this would be a natural way to show off muscularity. But the fetishistic ambiguity of capture and threat is made more real by the purposeful, challenging pose of the 'captor' and the apparent frustration of his captive.

Shooting The Past 2 - image 08

The pulling pose here is magnificent, full of determination and power. Appropriately enough the fire now highlights the muscles in his tensioned back. The 'captive' is helpless to prevent his arms being pulled aloft by the stronger man. The hanging pipe in the background offers the faintest of clues to erotic thoughts which are also beginning to show in their  bodies but they are not long in materialising anyway. 

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You could hardly better this as an expression of passion. The furnace behind them seems to explode, forcing the captive to arch his body forward in an offering to his lustful captor, he's also seemingly drawn forward by the chain between his legs as though it's trapping his manhood. But it's clear that the pleasure in this captivity game is entirely mutual. If these are rivals, it's a very friendly rivalry!

Shooting The Past 2 - image 17

The fetish element recedes, the captive surrenders, the fire settles to a steady blaze and a gentler body worship begins. Meanwhile the photographer, unseen, watches all this with amazement

(but doesn't miss a shot even so!)

Shooting The Past 2 - image 31

Now he is drawn directly into the rite, deprived of the shield of his camera and his clothes too. The 'cheeky boy' snaps this moment of initiation, the climax of a lengthy seduction on his part. At this point his colleague, the 'serious' workman, has shown that he is seriously sexy too and it shows as he settles to undressing the latecomer. The drifting smoke seems to reflect the photographer's uncertainty and intensifying sexual tension.

(I must admit I'm a bit surprised at the photographer's muscularity, I imagined that his relative boyishness was part of his attraction to the muscle-guys - but then it's not my story to tell!)

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Having worshipped the beefcake boys from a distance the photographer finds bonus fulfilment as the meat in their sandwich. The recently-chained (chastised?) top resumes his leadership role by encouraging the romance which seemed to develop between the other two in Part 1. But while the boys lie embracing each other and getting intimate, he proves his animal credentials (and celebrates his freedom) by topping them both with a triumphant, wolf-like cry of  orgasmic pleasure, a great image. The stairs rising behind him and the swirling smoke/steam make a witty comment on his ecstasy.

A lengthy, happy 'end' game follows this moment after which the studs gather round the flames of the furnace like Boy Scouts at camp. I've largely skipped this most sexual section in the interests of brevity and focussing on the fetish but there are dozens of other images which I urge you to seek out using the links below.

Read Part 1 of this article

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Priapus of Milet has produced many great works now but this is one of his best creations showing gay men in the way we would all like them to be:- strong, seductive,and passionate, sometimes forceful, mysterious and magical, but ultimately comradely and loving. There's a gentle edge to the flirtation with fetish here which might make you wish for more but still leaves a warm glow.

You can see this series displayed at Priapus @ Telemachus12 (132 images in all). Some of the images presented there are incomplete, typically with the lower half removed, the full images can only be seen by subscribing to Priapus @ Patreon. The Patreon version also has extra images (making 172 in all).

The Priapus Gallery @ Telemachus12 has a number of other series by Priapus.

There's also a selection (not completely the same) at his own Priapus' blog.

You can find an overview of the Patreon projects on The Patreon Index page

together with a description of the subscription arrangements.