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The Washington DC-based MANual Enterprises, established by Herman Lynn Womack, turns out a string of Physique magazines. Physique Pictorial magazine was recently relaunched (Image courtesy of Bob Mizer Foundation) 1950s Mizer died in 1992, but Physique Pictorial was recently relaunched by the Bob Mizer Foundation. Upon his release, he returned to photography and publishing, being careful to keep his work just on the right side of the law. In 1947, authorities prosecuted Mizer for distributing obscene material and he served nine months in prison. Muscle men oil each other up for Physique Pictorial (Photo: Courtesy Bob Mizer Foundation) In 1945, he sets up Athletic Model Guild and launches Physique Pictorial, which goes on to publish thousands of images of muscular young men in distinctive posing pouches (made by Mizer’s own mother!). Seminal US photographer Bob Mizer began to sell his black and white photographs of athletic young men by mail order. Some of these included same-sex couplings, of which the below is one of the tamer examples. In the late 1800s, an underground trade in postcards depicting naked models sprung up – sometimes referred to as ‘French postcards’. This is the first time some people might have got their hands on realistic photographic imagery of naked bodies. Soon after, early photographers produce images of nudes as aids for artists to paint and draw from. The first photographic processes arrived in the 1830s in France. Diarist Samuel Pepys mentions purchasing a copy, and says he intends to burn it afterwards so his wife doesn’t discover it. In it, two young women discuss sex in detail. Some scholars trace the beginning of pornography back to an anonymous, illustrated French book published in 1655, entitled L’Ecole des Filles. The printing press arrived in Europe in the mid-15th century, and images of sex followed soon after. Shunga woodblock art by Kitagawa Utamaro (Image: Public Domain) Below is the charmingly titled ‘Client lubricating a prostitute’ by Kitagawa Utamaro. It often featured sexual relations, including same-sex couplings. Shunga art was a specific form of woodblock art that flourished from the 13th to 19th century in Japan. The Greeks and Romans weren’t the only ones at it.
An engraving on the Warren Cup (Photo: Public Domain) It features two engraving of male figures engaged in anal sex.
A noteworthy artifact from this time is the Warren Cup, which resides in London’s British Museum. This idea of male beauty carried on over to Roman Times. Perhaps surprising to consumers of gay porn today, Greeks considered the ideal male penis as small, thin and uncircumcised. Greek playwright Aristophanes summed up male beauty as ‘a gleaming chest, bright skin, broad shoulders, tiny tongue, strong buttocks, and a little prick.’ Some of these depicted same-sex relations, and many of them celebrated cultural ideals of male beauty. The ancient Greeks and Romans were among the first to feature erotic images on ceramics. Here is a brief look back on male-on-male porn from the ages… Pre-modern age One of the reasons VHS took off in the early 1980s was because it meant you no longer had to venture out to porn theaters. Soon after the invention of photographic plates in the 1800s, people began to take shots of nudes. It’s also been at the forefront of many technological advances. In fact, it’s been there since prehistoric times. However, the fascination with watching men have sex with one another is not new. It’s tempting to think gay porn is a relatively recent phenomenon.