Vintage Bondage - Leonard Chambers chained, roped and nude

This picture obliquely suggests that the punishment might be a visit to the whipping post. Chambers strikes a proud, or you might say arrogant, defiant pose while facing the prospect of a barrage of pain. His raised arms give another a great view of  his torso. The often maligned, posing pouch is fully visible but has the virtue of looking as if there is something inside it, neatly packaged. It's a puzzle to me why photographers didn't opt for a loin cloth design for images like this, when it was a common enough sight in the 'Sword and Sandals' movies of the time.

These images seem much influenced by traditional, medieval notions of martyrdom. That association may help to make them look more convincing but you have to give a lot of credit to the model here for creating a dramatic moment, when it is apparent on closer inspection that he is not secured to the post at all but holding it up and the supposed 'marble pillar' looks suspiciously like a roll of floor covering. 

He adopts the same look for this pose, but arguably looks more annoyed than defiant, perhaps because the level of restraint here is barely rudimentary. The chains don't look as if they'd withstand much force and even if convincingly secured it would be more symbolic than real. Just like the prison bars at the back, to be fair. Despite such quibbles, it's still a great image of a captive muscle hunk. The loop of chain brushing the front of his pouch adds an erotic frisson.

This extraordinarily atmospheric image is not an example of bondage exactly but the model has swapped his posing pouch for a 'sheath' that encloses his sex organ in fashion that seems to anticipate the chastity devices of recent years - symbolically again but still rather sexy. Notice that the background has become a classical ancient building, conjuring up fantasies of enslavement. It's the best image yet of Leonard's physique, when it's his turn to stand on the rostrum, he should fetch a good price!

In this open-legged frontal pose, Leonard looks more youthful, waiting with barely controlled agitation. His abs are tensed, clenched even, producing a startling effect of connectivity running down and disappearing into the sheath, which you can now see has a simple, draw-string hem, like a purse of olden days. It's a matter of taste whether this clever effect turns you on but it brings out something more widely appreciated - that the model's lower torso is shaved completely smooth for as far as the eye can see. The sheath may provide a cloak of modesty, but it draws attention to this nakedness. He is now seated before a Moorish arch raising the spectre of a different style of enslavement. No wonder he looks worried.

After the tantalising sheath, a genuine, frontal, fully nude shot posed before a classical column.

We are fortunate that quite a lot of AMG images of Leonard like this have survived.

He looks relaxed and confident here having comfortably passed the male nudity size test.

This image posed with a curtain pole brings out the full extent of Leonards shoulder development and upper body bulk. Model's training techniques in those days seemed to produce physiques with a natural, most attractive 'plushness'. Once again there's a vague connection with the bondage theme of this post, 

the pole keeps the model's hands out of the way behind him and leaves his treasure trove unprotected. You only have to image his wrists being tied to the pole.

This image creates a dramatically different torso effect. With Leonard's arm raised we see the intensely detailed muscles and stand-out veins of a body-builder training for competition by shedding fat. Presumably this is the same shoot as Nude 1, but the effect couldn't be more different. 

Again there's a hint at bondage restraint, tied to the column.

There's a strange affinity between naked men and thick rope. I suppose it hints at masculine labours. Leonard here looks back fearfully as if expecting a whiplash any minute to make him pull harder. 

Rope also has a phallic quality for those inclined to see it (especially when it's dangling just in front of the model's pouch). It alludes to bondage fetish too although this one is really too thick for that purpose.

Ropes like this are also inextricably linked with with sailing ships and sailors and few gay models escaped from beefcake posing sessions without having had to don the US Navy's distinctive sailor cap. This image was probably inspired by the many War movies of the era which showed bare chested, hunky sailors sweating under the pacific sun. Leonard looks as if he's trying to diligently perform a routine task in the nude (acting on perverse orders) but without losing his modesty. It makes a charming image, suggesting a man of sensitivity, needing protection and whom anyone might fall for. 

This was the barely legal nude in the 50's. It can be seen as a prissy, slightly feminine pose but Leonard gives it a great deal of dignity, preserving his modesty with a slightly anxious expression that suggests he's waiting for the call which will may oblige him to reveal all. Maybe an instruction to mount the rostrum he's standing on. His oily skin lends his lean physique a harder look here. The absence of hair on his flat, lower abdomen again creates a subtly erotic accent of total nudity. 

This version of the sitting pose is rather less dignified, positively coquettish, but it's interesting to see a very typical 50's glamour pose for ladies performed by a male. The angling of the lower body modestly obscures a woman's 'sensitive' areas but makes a man look uncharacteristically coy without hiding anything. The pouch too is less much elegant than a bikini but looks sexily loaded. If you've fallen in love with him, this image won't change your mind!

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