#plüschow

Brilliant Mediterranean sunshine and deep, sharp shadow create quite dramatic contrast for this sweetly demure portrait by Guglielmo Plüschow - perhaps the model’s own modesty called for some small covering, or the photographer’s wish for a less revealing selection of pictures to cater for those of more reserved tastes.

A quite remarkably handsome young man, his features as near to perfection as any yet seen here, reclining in the pleasant peace of the hills near Taormina, a tantalising hint of a smile on his lips as he arches his back catlike in the sun. The dark drape of fabric preserving his modesty does little to detract from the sensuality of his pose, and the photograph remains as seductive as any more explicit offering in Guglielmo Plüschow’s catalolgue.

Despite being titled merely “Boy with Spear”, I (and all those who have followed for long enough to recognise one of the undoubted stars of this collection) can add that the classically handsome 19-year-old model in question is none other than Vincenzo Galdi. We have even seen him holding this spear once before.

Enjoying the secluded riverside on a glorious afternoon, cool water and dappled shade, a pleasure today as it has always been; this Plüschow photograph captures the atmosphere perfectly!

A second stunning close-up portrait of the boy with the beautiful eyes by Plüschow - not the sort of photograph I would usually post here, with the emphatic religious symbolism overwhelming the scene (indeed it is titled The Christian Martyr), but look beyond the trappings of his saintly role and we see simply the beautiful face of a young man who lived over a century ago.

His portrait taken around 1900 by Guglielmo Plüschow, this young man’s sublimely beautiful strong-featured face is unforgettable. We have seen him several times before, and I have found more of his photographs to post in future, so he ought have a tag all his own; his name is sadly unknown, so I shall just collect his photographs under the boy with the beautiful eyes.

A strikingly handsome young man with intensely soulful dark eyes, photographed in Rome in the late 1890s, by Guglielmo Plüschow.

An eye-catching image by Guglielmo Plüschow, this slender Sicilian model with his legs tucked tight to his body, and just the faintest glimpse of his eyes seen beneath the shadow of his forward-falling dark curls.

This Plüschow photograph appears oddly cropped, neither full artistic nude nor close enough to be a portrait - if anyone should own a more complete copy and wish to share it, please do send it in!

A sublime photograph in which everything is perfect - the fine-featured young model with luscious curves and dramatic pose, the poignant, tragically picturesque ruins of Pompeii, the sunlight drawing delicate shadows on his ribs, even the detailed carving along the edge of the step adds to one beautiful image.

Edoardo with Vincenzo Galdi, photographed by Guglielmo Plüschow in the 1890’s, in a pose perfectly capturing homoerotic longing and lust - a desire satisfied in the tentative tender kiss found later in this set.

The quite simply perfectNino Cesarini, posing for Guglielmo Plüschow circa 1905, in one of the most exquisitely beautiful portraits of his era - indeed, a timeless beauty which still stands out as something breathtakingly lovely to this day.

A lean willowy model of incredibly handsome face poses for Guglielmo Plüschow, circa 1905, simple white background allowing his beauty to stand out with no need for embellishment.

One of Guglielmo Plüschow’s more famous photographs, oft included in a more brief summary of the era as one of the outstanding examples of his work; and yet in providing so many pictures from his catalogue, I have somehow missed one of the best-known. Depicted in gorgeous close-up, picking up the fine details lost in the larger scenes - this is a nude in which we can really appreciate the body displayed : each crease in his skin, the beautiful contours and casually elegant pose, the light catching the outline of his nipple against the darker background, and I wonder are the spots merely damage to the aging print, or moles upon his skin? I like to think the latter; those imperfections which add to beauty wherever they are, not only when appearing on the face.

In these dreary grey days of winter not yet stirring into spring, let us look upon an idyllic scene of summer, think of the glorious Mediterranean sun on bare skin, the smell of herbs on a welcome breeze, hum of a thousand unseen insects in the air. Perhaps they can hear the sea, maybe the beach begins below their feet, close enough to the lapping waves that there’s a tang of windblown salt when they lick their lips.
These pictures allow us to imagine ourselves, for a moment not only in another time but another place; to think how it must have been to pose for these pictures, which still delight viewers over a century on.

Though his pictures are not so explicit or provocative as Galdi who was to follow him into the photographic industry, Plüschow nevertheless incorporated a lot of homoeroticism into his work, aiming to provide something meaninful and beautiful to those gentlemen who preferred gentlemen - we see subtle looks of longing, and hands draped in lingering caress, which could be taken as simple platonic affection to those with a more innocent outlook.
It is worth noting the slight mishap along the left side of the taller fellow here - although exposure times were decreasing rapidly and by the 1890s poses did not have to be held for the intensely uncomfortable and impractical length of time many imagine, the images were still not created quite instantaneously, and we can see the double outline caused by a slight movement while the shutter was open.

Vincenzo Galdi, photogaphed again by Guglielmo Plüschow - this time his beauty left to shine unembellished by the usual garlands of leaves or flowers, a simple portrait to capture an unforgettable face for all eternity.

Deep black shadows and bright brilliant light bring striking emphasis to the fine figure of this curvaceous leaf-garlanded model, in a sun-drenched shot from Guglielmo Plüschow, circa 1895.

A timelessly handsome young man poses for Plüschow around the turn of the last century, seated high on a pillar in the temple of Juno Sospita at Rome’s Civita Lavinia (now Lanuvia). 

The utterly gorgeous Vincenzo Galdi, posing in profile for his mentor Guglielmo Plüschow c1890. We have seen a remarkably similar shot before, just a slight shift in position, his eyes raised a little here and more downcast in the other, and more flowers tucked into his hair - I imagine model and photographer poring over the developed prints, discussing which they preferred.