The photographs of Danny Fitzgerald are an undiscovered treasure, making him one of the great photographers of the 20th mid century modernists. 'Brooklyn Boys' presents some of his work for the very first time since its creation in the '50s and '60s, showcasing the unbelievable intensity of his photography. These rare innocents look like dreamers in an abandoned New York - an intimate, palpable romanticism. Die Fotografien von Danny Fitzgerald sind ein unentdeckter Schatz, denn er gehört wahrlich zu den großen Fotografen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Brooklyn Boys führt zum ersten Mal seit der Entstehung seiner Fotos in den 50er und 60er Jahren sein Werk in einem Umfang zusammen, der die ungeheure Intensität seiner Bilder vor Augen führt.
Fitzgerald operated studio Les Demi Dieux from his home in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn NYC with his partner, muse and model Richard Bennett + local friends Robert Ruy, Nestor Derkach, Orest Daszo, Jerry Albanese, Vince Perri et al. He considered his models “demi-gods”: sublime, muscled beauties on the streets of Brooklyn, beaches of New Jersey, the woods of Pennsylvania. Les Demi-Dieux has long been considered one of the most artistic and certainly the most mysterious of the classic physique photographers. Only recently identified as Danny Fitzgerald, there is still very little known about his life. In the flesh, the Brooklyn boys were members of street gangs: greasers smoldering with bravado and swagger. They play cards, smoke cigarettes, and slouch against their Buick or Chevy. Occasionally photographed in his studio; elegant, sensual nudes. The Brooklyn boys exist on a cusp between innocence and street savvy, boyhood and manhood, mortality and eternity. In a style redolent with both classicism and realism, Fitzgerald’s gritty yet gorgeous nudes surpass the clichés of standard “beefcake” photography. Fitzgerald began photographing the young men he met at Abe Goldberg’s gym in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan - working-class guys 20 years his junior. Later, he and Bennett recruited their subjects on the streets of Brooklyn using Bennett’s gregarious personality and bodybuilder physique as bait. Fitzgerald’s knowledge of art and culture and unwavering encouragement of physical beauty sealed the deal.
The pre Stonewall era of Les Demi Dieux. T Unlike most such work, the darkroom skills of Les Demi Dieux are very strong, & there is more attention to overall composition. Les Demi Dieux worked with well-known physique models such as Richard Bennett, as well as local Brooklyn boys with greaser pompadour haircuts. As a point of curiosity, the few images which are signed, are signed by the models rather than the elusive Les Demi Dieux. & he had no blindstamp either. Remarkable images of neighborhood boys on the woods, beaches and streets of New York. Male physique photography exists on a periphery of other histories. Figure studies date from the early period of photography, such as images by Eugene Durieu made for the painter Eugene Delacroix. Looking beyond the lurid advertisements of Muscle & Fitness, there existed in this realm of men looking at men, a cottage industry of images circulated after WWII, through the 1970s, which although seemingly simply extolling the All-American Boy, or to use a term Gore Vidal coined, "homosexualist". This was a pre-Stonewall gay audience.
Etude athlete athletique academique, en plein air male nudes homme nu in nature al fresco, both black and white and color. Fitzgerald portraits appeared regularly in pre-Stonewall publications as Young Physique, Muscles a Go-Go, Demi Gods and Era.
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