For anyone wanting a bit of visual gay history–or just wanting to see how men looked back in “the day”–look no further than the work of George Platt Lynes, the photographer who specialized in photographing gay men. A bunch of his work goes up for auction this week.
Lynes grew up in New Jersey before going away to France to prep school. There he discovered queer artists, befriending fabled gay artists like Gertrude Stein & Jean Cocteau and coming to terms with his own sexuality. After studying at Harvard, he returned to France to begin his career as a photographer and earned a reputation for shooting sensuous and often fully nude shots of male and female models. His first show in New York City in 1932 caused a sensation, and Lynes became a go-to photographer for publications like Vogue.
Related: Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers reveals shockingly homoerotic pics from his homoerotic past
Lynes also played a key role in the work of Alfred Kinsey, the researcher who pioneered studies of human sexuality and eventually discovered that homosexuality is a natural orientation rather than a mental illness. Lynes provided Kinsey with vital data, as well as a collection of homoerotic photographs which helped fuel Kinsey’s research.
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Now, a few of Lynes’ photographs have gone up for auction, sparking a renewed interest in his work. They include homoerotic and nude shots of models Randolph Jack and Jack Fontan, who still go easy on the eyes after all these years.
Related: PHOTOS: New museum offers rare glimpse at gay life in the 1940s, on Fire Island and beyond
Head to the auction site to see the full collection up for grabs.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Crazy when you think about it…..those pics were considered “racey” back then….
dwes09
If you look at the images on the auction house site they contain full frontal male nudity, as well as naked men together in obviously erotic poses. Those were racy during that period, and would still be very distasteful to many folks now.
By contrast the homoerotic drawings of Jean Cocteau went way beyond “racy”. Museums today would have to post warnings outside the galleries if they showed them, even given his importance as a 20th century artist . He was to the first part of the 20th century what Tom of Finland was to the latter part. But he was also a poet, playwright, writer, filmmaker, designer, actor and visual artist.
CurtisIsTheOne
Well, considering that a few of them included naked uncut dick, one can imagine WHY they were considered “racey”.
Kangol2
Despite the fact that George Platt-Lynes is an acclaimed photographer and artist, his photos of male frontal nudes would be banned or stricken from Tumblr and Instagram today, in 2019, so they’re definitely still considered “racy” by some.