Two Bodybuilders Posing [Set of twelve original photographs] by Don Whitman - 1955

Western Photography Guild, 1955. Photographic Image. Very Good. No Binding. Twelve 4 x 5 vintage sepia toned gelatin silver photographs from two different sessions, one inside and the other out. There is a slight waviness to the paper of each photograph, consistent with age. Else, they are in fine condition. None are signed, but each are stamped on the back: "Western Photography Guild / Box 2801 - Denver 1, Colorado" and additionally stamped in sequence from 55-1 through 55-12. It is presumed, but not known for certain that "55" refers to the year of the images. (in my images of the backs of the photographs, there is no black line around the edges.) All twelve images from both sessions feature the same two handsome nude bodybuilders. One sequence is in a studio, while the other is shot on the rocks of the mountains surrounding Denver, where Don Whitman and his Western Photography Guild were based. The motto of WPG was "Men to Match the Mountains" and these photographs mightily live up to the motto. The men sport broad smiles in almost all of the images as they expose almost every inch of their well formed bodies, including their defined and bare asses. Poses that would expose genitalia utilize skimpy posing straps that are as provocative as if they wore nothing (which, in ones where their backs are to the camera, they are!). This is an amazing set of joyful images of the same two models who have yet to be identified, cavorting, wrestling, and enjoying their bodies and eagerly sharing them with the camera. They are from an era when not only photographing such handsome nearly nude men but also desiring and collecting their images could result in hefty fines, harassment, and imprisonment..