Vintage Bondage - James Seely

James Seely by Kris - 1

In this 1965 picture by Kris of Chicago, James Seely looks every inch like the military man who's just come into the studio to pose for some skin pix and earn himself some extra cash. His muscularity and USMC tattoo mark him out as a man who can look after himself. The jock he's wearing is reassuringly masculine and there's a certain casual confidence in this open-legged pose. As a winner of the Mr Florida title, Seely was well used to displaying his physique. But there's a look in his eye here that's a little wary and he's clinging to the stool as if not quite secure.

James Seely by Kris - 2

In this picture he shows his military background with a confident, casual pose and rebellious gesture. We don't really know if know if the finger was a spontaneous reaction to provocative banter or if it was deliberately posed by Kris. However, given at arms length here, it seems like a half-hearted, sly response to being ordered around, whilst still obediently holding the pose. Seely's submissive and questioning expression makes it look more like an invitation than a rebuke.

James Seely by Kris - 3

In this picture we can see that the garment protecting James's modesty is only the remnants of a jockstrap, curiously adapted to a posing pouch (a puzzling phenomenon of the 1960's that I explored in mitchmen's Vintage Season, Part 11). This leaning back pose puts his whole torso on display and James looks abashed, as if this is not quite what a man should do. He puffs out his chest in a show of military manliness but holds the stool for support, protecting his rear, but perhaps not realising just how grabbable and appealing his lean physique and slender waist looks.

James Seely by Kris - 4

If the model felt discomforted by the self display of the previous pose, it's even worse here with his crotch thrust forward, offering himself up to the gaze of strangers. It seems to show in that irritated, 'what's going on?' expression. He's bound to feel vulnerable, because he cannot protect himself in this position and getting out of it requires awkward, undignified manoeuvres. That helplessness makes for a very sexy picture and (unknown to him) Kris has ensured that his jock-pouch stands out, virgin-white against the background. The bulge it reveals is necessarily modest by modern standards, because of the legal constraints of the day, but it won't necessarily have felt like that to him.

The magic Kris weaves using this elegant, art nouveau style stool is a tribute to his artistic skill.

James Seely by Kris - 5

   Next, Kris introduces dangling chains and persuades Seely to strike a classic body-building pose with them wrapped round his wrists. He looks like a captive slave being presented for sale or made ready for punishment. The subterfuge of combining classical art and modern fitness imagery was probably intended to confuse the model just as much as it was the censors and Seely's wonderfully expressive face suggests it's had exactly that effect - with an dash of apprehension thrown in. 

Kris got Seely to change into a 'proper' posing pouch for this part of shoot. It better suits the allusion to slavery, but the flimsy material is more directly revealing than coarse, jock fabric and it probably felt that way to James as he slipped his tackle into it. There's even a slight impression that it might even have been pre-wetted, Royale style, to enhance it's clinginess. That might have contributed to the model's pained expression. Kris has drawn attention to it with some clever lighting. 

James looks big, strong and powerful in this perspective, worthy of being restrained with chains. 

It's a dramatic physical contrast to his poses with the stool, but he looks no less vulnerable.

James Seely by Kris - 6

This picture may look familiar, I used it 18 months ago in The Abandoned Slave, a captioned post spoofing the pretended restraint in bondage imagery of the mid 20th century. Kris seems to be doing the same himself with the dangling chain end looking for an anchorage and humorously phallic. Seely contributes a delightful, puzzled expression. The trailing chains rising up between his open legs are not devoid of erotic significance either.

Kris has subtly accentuated the shape of Seely's pouch here by allowing a drooping shadow to fall across it, but it's far from prominent (compare it with the jock cupping in image 4). Rather it helps create a sense of near nudity in Seely's willowy physique. 

James Seely by Kris - 7

That sense of flexibility flows through this image too with James seeming to be trapped in the chains and twisting to look back at us pleadingly. The first sight of his backside is a treat, no wonder he looks so worried! That's not the only significant development here because in this image he actually is completely naked. The pouch has gone the way of the jock leaving only a tell tale line across his glute.

James Seely by Kris - 8

Seely playfully wraps the chains around himself, protecting his modesty in the frontal view.

His physique looks mellow and attractive here and is enhanced by the spiralling chains.

His face is a picture of uncertainty, this is how you would imagine a captive to look

 on the auction block as the bidding fury mounts.

James Seely by Kris - 9

The model's playfulness emerges more clearly here. 

Seely's back is the most impressive result of his bodybuilding but it's the buttock cleft

 that draws your eye, thanks to Kris's adroit arrangement of the chains. 

I suppose you might describe this as an early manifestation of the tentacle effect,

with the victim unable to decide what to do about it.

James Seely by Kris - 10

Freed from the chains, Seely presses his hands together to bring out the bulk of his back.

As with image 5, he seems to shrink into a surprising, more compact shaping.

Personally I prefer the slender look.

This pose also creates the frivolous impression that he's anxiously covering his modesty

 and looking round for the missing pouch.

Kris probably photographed full frontal images during this shoot, but the time had not yet arrived when he could advertise them or publish them openly in the beefcake press. However, nude studies of this model do exist and my next post will include some along with other examples of his delightful facial expressions.

Continued in Part 2

images courtesy of Tim InVermont and enhanced by mitchmen.

Vintage Bondage - James Dunn

Punishments on the farm were simple but severe.

Doubly so for runaway slaves.

Jim had been a rebel from the start.

Condemned to a year of penal service

He had to be dragged to the auction block.

His resistance was foolish, but understandable.

Just a few weeks before, Jimmy had been as free as a bird.

Happy and popular with his friends and workmates at the Bank.

His biggest problem then was deciding which tie to wear each morning.

Then came that speeding ticket and a run-in with a vindictive cop.

The attendants eventually cajoled Jim onto the auction block

Posing half-heartedly with their spit trickling down his torso.

Yearlings don't usually fetch much as labourers

But Jim's pugnacious looks and spirit 

ensured a well-contested sale.

When Jimmy got to the Farm he found he'd been picked out by the farmer's wife.

She thought Jim was cute, just like her son who had recently gone off to college.

Jim was to take his place, helping out with work in the fields.

The wife dressed Jim in a slave pouch for his registration and ID card photo.

She'd made it herself, especially for him, from one of her son's old jock straps.

Jim had to do heavy field work during the day

But in the evening he was often summoned by the Farmer's wife.

She wanted to take pictures of him for the family album

Just like the ones she'd taken of her son over the years.

She loved taking pictures of Jim.

She always supervised Jim's bath night which was once a week in cold water.

She fastidiously checked that he'd washed his tackle properly and every crevice.

She even snapped him in the bath and turned it into a postcard

So he could send it to his family and friends and tell them how happy he was.

Happy Days on the Farm!

But Jimmy wasn't happy working on the Farm, he ran away.

Almost immediately a kid on the beach spotted his slave pouch.

He tried to arrest him, to get the bounty for catching runaways.

It turned into quite a scrap.

But Jim was desperate and his work had made him fitter.

Jimmy managed to get away and immediately got rid of his pouch

But naked men stood out even more than pouched ones.

The municipal Slave Catcher soon caught up with him

Jimmy spent two nights in the pound before being collected.

When he got back, Jim had to see the Farmer to learn his punishment.

The Farmer's wife snapped him, tired and downcast, while he was waiting.

Her picture later won a commendation at the local Photographic Club Exhibition.

She was glad to see him back, but scolded him for losing the pouch she'd made.

She promised to make him a new one from one of her son's old T-shirts.

The Farmer taught Jim a severe lesson for running away

and the Court automatically doubled his sentence.

Thereafter his owner ensured he would never escape again.

And his wife recorded every moment for the family album.

~

Photos of James Dunn by Kris of Chicago

All pictures enhanced by mitchmen

Vintage Bondage - Vince Orlandini

Vince Orlandini by Kris (1957)

This image conjures up the fetish of jungle capture and prisoner of war tortures. The much maligned posing pouch fits quite well into this scenario and this is nicely compact and inoffensive example worn by a man with an appealing 'guy next door' look and an attractive physique. Kris has ingeniously used two poles to get round the practicalities of arranging tethering points but Vince is genuinely tied to them, which isn't always the case in this era.

The 'X' restraint position is very popular with fetish artists for fairly obvious reasons. Amalaric is a great fan (e.g. in Office Perks). It's not that common in solo bondage photography though. This photograph dates from 1957, when the invocation of slavery in ancient Greece and Rome was widely used by gay photographers and artists to get round repressive laws and attitudes but even so, to my knowledge, it's almost unique. Perhaps the homoerotic qualities of bondage and the way the X pose draws attention to a barely hidden groin was just too daring as a combination. Kris promoted it as part of a set, but I've not found any other examples of this model in bondage. 

See also Peter George from Royale Studio in the early sixties

Vince Orlandini by Kris (1957)

This is the best picture of Vince that I have been able to find. 

He boasts an elegant shapely physique with unusually large nipples.

Vince Orlandini by Kris (1957)

An unremarkable but stately pose

Is enlivened by shapely pecs and pouch.

Vince Orlandini by Kris (1957)

This image is quite interesting, I'm a fan of men in gym shorts 

although these are not particularly brief nor snug fitting. 

I'm not sure whether he's pulling something out of his pocket

 or has a tantalising side opening in his shorts.

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Vintage Bondage - Fred Halstead

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Vintage Bondage - Don Ferrara

Don Ferrara in Bondage (AMG ca 1954)

 

This impressive image of Don Ferrara, tied hand and foot, has a tremendous sense of muscle and bulk having been tamed and rendered subservient. He looks up respectfully to his invisible master utterly helpless on the end of a tether. It's hard to see whether he's wearing a pouch or totally naked. 

The background image seeks to cloak this extraordinary scene in the enslavement practices of the ancient world but I think the architecture is more medieval. 

Don Ferrara in Bondage (AMG ca 1954)

This related image is equally tantalising. The 'hands in front' bondage technique restricts but is not inescapable. However it has the virtue that it looks as if Don is genuinely, tightly restrained, which isn't always the case with bondage from the 50's. Fun to create for the photographer (or his assistant!) and the model too perhaps. 

Don had an attractive face with rounded features that are homely and soft rather than dangerous and sexy. He was handsome in his time, having the look of several film stars from the 50's. College jock good looking, his greased hair was the height of cool. Although he's shaved his torso, there's a nice fuzz of hair on his arms and legs.

Don Ferrara in Bondage (AMG ca 1954)

Don looks just as good in a hog, bringing in a sense of his height as well as his musculature. His open legs are tantalising. It's not the most demanding of hog-ties admittedly, but good enough to allow examination of the goods.

This pose might remind you to of another, contemporary AMG bondage set featuring Leonard Chambers, also hog-tied. I have recently updated it with additional images

Don Ferrara pre-Bondage? (AMG ca 1954)

This image seems to be from the same shoot with Don striking an open, inviting pose, presenting a shapely pouch to us, but with a less than welcoming expression. It's easy to imagine his feet are tied together here and although his arms are not tied, they seem to be 'assuming the position' prior to rolling into the hog. If you like hairy forearms, feast on his!

Don Ferrara (AMG ca 1952)

This is a slightly earlier image, a more youthful Don (aged 26) but already in possession of muscular arms, a well-defined torso and able to fill out his pouch . This relaxed body-builder pose has a disinterested quality that seems designed to allay accusations of flaunting one's body, but for gay men it has a submissive, 'come and get me' feel. Set against the ruins of ancient Greece it suggests an early suitability for being tied up.

Don Ferrara (AMG ca 1952)

Don demonstrates here that he was not overly concerned with protecting his modesty and had a youthful willingness to challenge the conventions and restrictions of the day. His pale imitation of the body-builder's bicep flex pose challenges us to try and remove the fig leaf precariously attached to something that certainly isn't a pouch! You sense he's not going to try very hard to stop you either.

Don Ferrara (AMG ca 1952)

Most body builders were willing to experiment with artistic poses which showed they had sensitivity and were not just musclebound blockheads. In fact, seated poses like this tend to accentuate pure bulk more than conventional upright flexing does and it could be seen as a take on Narcissus gazing at his own reflection in the pool below. Nevertheless this thoughtful introspection makes the model seem less God-like, more human, vulnerable - and accessible.

Don is heavily oiled up for this image and that was and is a normal, bodybuilding practice for display. It's nice to imagine the photographer or an eager assistant, helping out to ensure full coverage. 

Don Ferrara (AMG ca 1954)

The full measure of this stately man, ready and waiting
with welcoming arms

~

Unusually for 50's physique models, Don's life was well documented in his recent Obituary. He was a fireman and lived a straight, married life reaching the ripe old age of 94 by the time he died in 2021. He was a bona fide bodybuilder (as firemen often are) and the article even mentioned his appearance in Tomorrows Man in Oct 1954, although this was an image that had clearly been crudely sanitised (see below). Not surprisingly, his bondage experience wasn't mentioned. It makes you wonder what persuaded him to try it, perhaps his firemen buddies put him up for it! 

Don Ferrara (AMG ca 1954) in Tomorrows Man Oct 1954

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to spot that this image has been censored.

The photo is taken against the same background pattern as the fig leaf image above.

Perhaps this is the moment when the fig leaf fell!

Choosing to publish this picture out of all the images AMG took of Don seems like a deliberate attempt by TM to signal the availability of illicit nudes. Also, for this image to be known to Don's friends in later life suggests he had a dare-devil streak and no regrets about any youthful indiscretions and experiences. Which goes some way to explain the praise he attracted on his death.

~

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Images courtesy of Tim in Vermont, most enhanced by mitchmen blog