Brand New from Taschen -- AMG's 1000 Model Directory!

Let's raise a toast to Den Bell at AMG/The Bob Mizer Foundation and Dian Hanson at Taschen for putting together another exciting book -- The 1000 Model Directory!  Inspired by the classic magazine of the same name from the sixties, this boxed, two-volume edition expands on Bob Mizer's original idea by presenting full-sized images, in black & white and in color, of the models that Mizer photographed between 1945 and 1968 -- the Golden Age of physique photography before the legalization of male nude photography.

I've yet to see a copy (sorry, I'm poor), but Taschen makes wonderful books so I know this is going to be great.  It is getting some wide-ranging online press -- French Vogue, i-D Vice, Cool Hunting, Luster Magazine, The Huffington Post and even the venerable New Yorker!

The list price for this epic collection is $125, but right now you can buy it directly from The Bob Mizer Foundation for only $99 with free US shipping!  Buying your copy directly from AMG helps support their efforts to catalog and preserve the millions of negatives and photographs in their archives.

1000+ pages of prime beefcake and even a DVD of 18 AMG films -- what more could a person want?  Order a copy and tell them Alan at V-M-P sent you!

See This Film - Jongens (Boys)

I just finished watching this little beauty tonight -- second time around, and still as heartwarming as the first time.  I should have taken up track in high school -- my whole life might have turned out differently!  First love that is exciting, scary, all-encompassing...  And to think, in the Netherlands, where this was produced, it was first shown on a teen TV channel!

There's a great review of the film by Francesco Cerniglia at Candid Magazine, but here's a paragraph that rather sums it all up --

The scope of Boys is that of exploring the insurmountable power of first love and focusing on the idealism of romance rather than sexual passion. Yet the sexual awakening is there, hinted at, just in the sweetest of ways and it comes across so nuanced in subtext through the outstanding performances of the two teenage actors portraying Sieger and Marc. Gijs Blom and Ko Zandvliet are absolutely fantastic at conveying all their emotions with mostly their eyes, their faces and their whole body language.

Take in this little piece of heaven when you're at home with your special one or on a day when you need a pick-me-up.  You'll thank me.

Remembering: John Palatinus, 1929 - 2014

John Palatinus, Berlin Pride, 2014

It is hard to believe that today marks the second anniversary of the death of my friend, John Palatinus.

We met each other because of two posts (here and here) I'd made about him back in 2007.  A friend of John's was a visitor to v-m-p and passed the links along to him.  Not long afterward we met face to face -- living only 13 miles away from each other!

Soon after our first meeting, the possibility of an exhibit of John's "forgotten" photos raised its head -- eventually leading to the wild group exhibit "Tomorrow's Man" at Rick Castro's Antebellum Gallery in Hollywood.  This led to his solo exhibits in Paris, Berlin, Palm Springs, Koln (Cologne), London, Antwerp, Los Angeles (again!), and finally in Oslo, Norway!

I was able to use my rudimentary Photoshop skills to recreate 18 of his photos (from poorly printed magazine pages, four original photos and three original negatives) for that first exhibit.  For the June, 2014 show in Oslo, we had 50 of his physique photos reclaimed and reproduced at 13 x 19 inches (and many much larger), as well as photos he took in Paris in the 50s, New York, Palm Springs and even Havana, Cuba (which he visited in 2011 on a cultural trip with the American Ballet Theatre).  While every show was exciting and unique, the Oslo show was certainly the pinnacle when it came to content, publicity, and most importantly -- attendance.  His European agent (and 20-year friend) Bernd Althans and new Norwegian friend and mover-and-shaker Atle Fossdal put together 10 days of excitement that I was able to share with John as we made our last trip together.

John Palatinus was a whirlwind of energy and lit up every room he walked into, easily making friends from every walk of life in every city he visited.  Early 2014 saw him start to slow down, until he had a heart attack one evening at the end of August.  He underwent bypass surgery that was certainly ill-advised and passed away three weeks later.

From the spring of 2009 to the fall of 2014 it was my great good fortune to have John Palatinus as a wonderful friend.

I love you, John!

Surrounded by friends while riding a party float, Berlin Pride, 2014