Nude Clock

The subject of Nude Clock (Streets of San Francisco II) indeed

is 'clothed' in Saran Wrap to clarify. Your ratings and critiques

are invited and most welcome. Please keep in mind that ratings for

aesthetics do not just include 'pretty' photos but also photos that

have 'impact' and photos that sometimes are 'surreal', 'shocking' or

otherwise stand out because of their subject matter and/or

presentation. (Please rate this photo on its photographic merits

only, and not on your personal feelings of shock, disgust or

distate, regarding the subject matter, as sometimes photos with good

aesthetics validly can raise those emotions; aesthetics does not

always equate to 'pretty'). If you rate harshly or very negatively,

please submit a helpful and constructive comment/Please share your

superior knowledge to help improve my photography.) Thanks!

Enjoy! (if you can;-) ) John

This 'photo opportunity' for 'topless' nightclubs at North Beach, San Francisco, including the one made famous by Carol Doda, who had the famous 'Dodabs' (pneumatic breasts), was dreamed up by their publicist. This is a supposed 'moon maiden' complete with Saran Wrap clothing and if you look carefully, antenna. All to celebrate the first successful Moon Walk. Such chutzpah.

And, when an AP photographer buddy said 'get your camera, we're going to have some fun,' I got it and away we went.

He knew the photos he took would never see the light of day with AP, and I was just along because the news day was slow before my writing shift in the evening began (I took this on my own time, as I recall). (I was hired to be a photographer with him and Sal Vader, who won a Pulitzer later, but they moved me into a writer's slot because the photo slots were temporarily filled.)

So, little attention was given to finer points like making beautiful photography and more, regrettably, toward gawking, I'm afraid, Timo, although I did try to get something that was sufficiently 'surreal' and worthy for my personal portfolio.

(See my Early B&W folder for another version of this same woman, a somewhat better photo, I think.)

I think the face on the clock sums it all up -- sad, sad, sad, with clock hands forming tears . . . . probably of disgust.

Thanks for commenting.

John (Crosley)

The above photo is just one of many, many interesting moments in an interesting life, a long, rich and bizarre life, full of surreal moments and episodes.

I know ordinary and I know extraordinary . . . and extraordinary has a way of being attracted to me, I think (or vice versa).

John (Crosley)

John, I knew that there is an interesting story behind this shot, and my comment about the messy background is now quite silly :)

pneumatic breasts? filled with air? twirling pasties? I'm going to have to do a little google'ng.

This is very good. A fleeting moment but what I really like is her smile opposing the tears on the clock, sort of the other way round as your Balloon Man. The surreal look is heightened by the Daliesque clock. I'd be interested to know more of the story behind this one as it is clearly of an older vintage. I bet you've got quite a few of these old gems up your sleeve which you can trickle out as you see fit?

Best Regards, Miles.

'Pneumatic' was used with some 'license'. Actually, Carol Doda used silicon and was one of the first 'purveyors' to the public (yes, a purveyor) of silicon breasts and of course a populizer of them. So, no air and no need to 'Google' the term. Just a bit of literary license on my part. This woman, on the other hand, appeared non-pneumatic - just amply endowed, but not very pretty in my regard.

And you have it wrong, (take it from someone knowledgeable about such things). Pasties were not twirled. They were what the tassles were attached to, and the tassles were twirled. The pasties were fixed, and supposedly satisied the requirements of 'modesty' sufficiently to claim that there was no 'nudity'.

However, this 'North Beach' San Francisco set of nightclubs was famous for doing away with the pasties altogether and allowing full topless dancing and actually allowing men to see female breasts unadorned (perish the thought. . . . )

I had a friend in law school, whose father was the eventual Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and he told me a story of his father and another famous house leader, Carl Albert, on North Beach's famous Broadway, barhopping the topless joints -- both unrecognized by patrons, but management in one recognized the famous Carl Albert and called 'Hi Carl!' to that famous Democrat.

Imagine, this suave, attorney from California -- a Congressional leader of decades standing, who was barhopping with Carl Albert, The Little Giant of Dixie, a Democrat who was born either in Flowery Mound or Bug Tussle Oklahoma (yes!) and who rose to become one of the most famous men in America. Now imagine them both seated with two drinks apiece ogling dancing women in front of them, their bare breasts bobbling, all the time wondering whether some paparazzo would catch them and plaster their photos across the front page of some newspaper. (Remember the Congressman who ended up in a Capitol fountain with a stripper girlfriend -- those were the days?)

(Remember, John F. Kennedy and Bobby both waited out the West Virginia primary in a Times Square porno theatre, watching 'similated' sex acts, and his biographers complained that Jack Kennedy disturbed the others in his party by continually leaving the party and going out to telephone for preliminary primary counts. Those were simpler and different times.)

Here's to Bug Tussle (Or Flowery Mound), Oklahoma.

;-))

John

Insightful comment about the relationship of this and my 'Balloon Man'. I'm always looking for a telling juxtaposition, and of course this had it. I didn't feel it needed me to comment on it as the irony was so evident.

As to the history, look above under the comment 'Sloughing Off' in which I set forth the circumstances under which this was taken.

Regrettably there are very few of such things left for posting, although there once was a surfeit, because a company that owed me an enormous amount of money defaulted and I lost much of my property including my precious photographs, transparencies and negatives. (Only a few were saved). Literally, I lost a treasure trove.

Thanks for commenting.

John

Please see the comment above under "Sloughing Off". Also, in my Early B&W folio, there's a similar photo of the same woman that sheds more light on this situation. Happy viewing and reading.

John

..on Forrest Gump, that scene from night club, where Jenny played naked, covered just with acoustic quitar for those horny, soulless men..

Well, one of Americas top export article, isn't?

Very good photography indeed..

BB

The better photo, and more surreal, to my way of thinking is the other with this same woman, outside this second-hand shop, standing in behind an open-backed panel truck with two workmen looking on.

It's totally inexplicable (so is this I suppose) but that one is out in the open on the 'Streets of San Francisco (Like You Never Saw Them) (it's caption).

You might look at it.

I like it better than this, though this indeed is bizarre.

The other one is more bizarre because it's out there in 'real life and doesn't appear so much to be 'staged' or happening on a movie set or some other contrivance as this might be (though it is no, and though the other was 'staged' as a 'moon shot' promotion (note the antennae?) -- however not by me, but by some Topless Club promoter, looking for loads of publicity -- he was totally wacko (and successful because he let photographers take photos of nude women who often were beautiful, and that was a great perq.

And that's the way it was back in 1969 . . . .

When man first walked on the moon and a schlockmeister topless promoter decided to turn history into crap, as he did everything else.

He was one of a kind (sui generis), a virtual crapola machine and got away with it because his stock in trade was beautiful women, topless.

John (Crosley)