Beefcake or Cheesecake?

I am pretty comfortable with the concept of Sexy - certainly how I see things. The idea of Beauty gets confusing for me. How it is marketed and how all of us collectively try to balance our image vs what others see of us. Where I get really lost, is on the concept of Beauty Pageants. You get a prize for how "pretty" you are. This is not limited to the female pageants, but also the array of everything from Bodybuilding to Drag Queens as well. This objectification of a perfect body by our Western standards of civilization totally messes with all our egos. It has created an enormous industry of beauty products that used to be exclusively for women - no more. And plastic surgery is now a common procedure even if not medically necessary.

And yet I am one of the first to tap into a handsome figure in a Pin-up Calendar of Firemen with puppies or the latest Marvel Universe adventure with a hunky Chris Evans. Thus, a dilemma which makes me a hypocrite.

So when I stumbled onto this studio series 2 years ago, it was something I could enjoy with a guilty pleasure of satire and parody. David Talaski took some of his favorite Super Heroes and reimagined them in drawings that are in the style of old 50's cheeky boudoir shots ala Vargas. He takes their magnified physical traits and a hint of their superpowers, then turns them tongue in cheek. You get both a giggle and a raised brow at the same time. I believe he made a killing with them in everything from Tee shirts to greeting cards. I am sure he targeted the gay market which ate them like hotcakes.

Here are my classics without apology. If you want to see more... 

David Talaski; Instagram

Captain America @ Chris Evans

Loki @ Tom Hiddleston

Green Lantern @ Ryan Reynolds

Thor @ Chris Hemsworth

The Incredible Hulk

Splashing in the Water

 

With our hot summer heat wave upon us, I am again thankful for our Twin Cities Lakes at my disposal. My ritual of early evening swims has returned. At dusk I head over to a side street, throw a towel on the sandy beach and dive in to cool down my body. It is low-brow, hardly a luxury pool. The neighborhood is diverse and the water is already tepid warm from the streak of hot days. Already there is a stench from the algae bloom and the water is barely clear. But I am grateful nonetheless - not there to impress.

Photographer Christy Lee Rogers elevates this same "dip into a pool" to highbrow art. Modern digital photography and photo manipulation continues to amaze me. She uses a lit swimming pool as her canvas and then plays with her subjects as free floating costumed figures. By shooting at night and a slow shutter speed, it creates almost psychedelic effects. This highlighted exhibit was called Muses. Christy states that she was attempting to portray something that resembled a Baroque painting and I think she succeeds in capturing something truly ethereal. Sometimes even the bright colored oils of a John Singer Sargent portrait, whom I love.

Here are just a few samples of the collection which premiered back in 2018. Click on the link to see a larger selection of the works.

Christy Lee Roger's: Muses