Physique Photography and Illustration in Post-War Britain (1945-1967)

At the current, Will is putting together a research proposal that aims to examine physique photography and illustration in Post-War Britain and its relationship to homosexuality.

Understanding that there is a vast range of scholarship on homosexuality, but not on its relationship to physique photography, the research will place post-war queer photography in its wider socio-political context, thinking about its relationship to the emerging homosexual cultural network in Britain. The work aims to examine the oeuvres of photographers such as John S Barrington and William Dominque (Lon of London), and will take a historical-materialist approach to do so. Building upon Will’s previous study, this research will contribute to the existing field by offering a sustained art historical analysis of physique photography and its presence in post-war Britain.