#solo portrait

A gorgeous Italian photographed by Vincenzo Galdi - I keep finding these wonderful portraits of captivating young men from a century ago, they are all gone now but that makes their pictures all the more poignant and beautiful.

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.

Il Grande Fauno (The Great Faun), the singularly striking close-up portrait which graces this famous set of photographs by von Gloeden. By far the largest, clearest copy of this iconic image that I have ever seen, this gorgeous picture was donated by regular contributor John - my continued gratitude, sir, for sharing your finds!

To end the month on a particularly pretty note, here is a beautiful portrait by Wilhelm von Gloeden; how sweetly he smiles, how expressive those lovely downcast dark eyes! Flowers softly resting on his hair and yet more clasped to his breast with the telltale deeply tanned hand of the outdoor worker - the only intrusion of his everyday reality into this heavenly portrait.

Laurel-wreathed and swathed in pale fabric, this young man poses as the famed Roman emperor Nero, for the camera of Wilhelm von Gloeden in the 1880s.

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.

Another gorgeous portrait of Vincenzo Galdi by Plüschow, this often-repeated pose perfect to highlight his handsome profile and beautiful neck & jawline, his hair a ruffled mess of curls when let to grow longer.
Beginning his involvement with photography as a model, he went on to become a photographer in his own right, breaking all boundaries between the sensual nude and provocative erotica - see my collected examples of his work here.

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.

A captivating close-up portrait of Pietro by von Gloeden, taken in 1890s Taormina, Sicily.

Another completely captivating 1890s portrait by von Gloeden; a beautiful Sicilian man with dark-smudged deep-set eyes and a noble profile, a garland of entwined flowers and ivy leaves about his hair.

Dated July 1900, a striking solo portrait by Guglielmo Plüschow, with a good-looking (but sadly anonymous) Sicilian man photographed in beautiful close-up detail, white shirt shrugged back off his shoulders to reveal the lovely contours of his chest.

An exquisite and utterly captivating solo portrait by Vincenzo Galdi, featuring a young man who appears in many of his photographs (notably here, and in this lovely image) - and it is little wonder he was so favoured, with that handsome face! 

Vincenzo Galdi as a smouldering, sultry young man of nineteen, posing for Guglielmo Plüschow in Naples c1890, dainty narcissus flowers tied into his tousled black curls. 

Surrounded by the beautiful pale almond blossom which covers the hills around Taormina each year, this 1890s portrait by Guglielmo Plüschow captures an anonymous but admirably handsome young man in captivating detail, from the ruffled mess of untidy curls to the faint smile lines around his expressive deep-set eyes.

The handsome Edoardo from Naples, by Plüschow circa 1895 - quite possibly the same day as he received that famous kiss from his friend Vincenzo, said to be the first kiss between men ever to be photographed. We have seen him pose alone before, hereandhere.

Portraits create such a powerful sense of a moment captured and kept, a fine face made everlasting; as we look upon this strong-featured anonymous Italian, know he was photographed by Vincenzo Galdi a little over a hundred years ago.

A simple, soulful portrait of Antonio or ‘Nino’ Cesarini, photographed by Guglielmo Plüschow in the early years of the 20th century.

The outstandingly handsome face of an unknown Italian model, immortalised in this portrait by Guglielmo Plüschow during the 1890s.

leaves-in-his-hair:

Pietro, by von Gloeden. That sultry look, the little flower stem held between his teeth, and made all the better by knowing his name.

With the last solo portrait I posted well-received and much liked, I’ve decided to select a few more for your admiration. There are, of course, a finite number of the more revealing or erotic photographs from this era, so let us expand the theme just a little to include these charming portraits of handsome 19th Century models.