Mike Arlen never planned to be a male nude photographer…
He took fashion pictures for more than ten years before a German magazine editor saw pictures from a swimwear shoot Mike had done with two bodybuilders. He managed to track down Mike’s telephone number and requested the publishing rights, saying that he wanted nude shots of the guys as images of male nudes were commonplace in Germany.
So on his first official nude photographic assignment Mike took his model to a farm and photographed him surrounded by cows and sheep and holding lambs. “I thought I had to show my imagination by putting models in surprising settings”, Mike explained. “In the early days I was taking photographs of guys undressing on trains and buses and even the engine rooms of cargo ships!”
Both men and women would write to Mike saying they loved his work and their fantasy was to see guys undressing from uniforms such as soldiers, sailors and builders, from the past and present. Mike obviously listened to his fans, as you’ll find erotic photo shoots of guys stripping out of uniforms in every issue of his successful magazines Mike Arlen’s Guys.
It’s only been in recent years that the government relaxed this country’s archaic sex laws, finally allowing more explicit imagery to be shown in print and on film. Before then, under British Law, erection shots in magazines would have them confiscated by the police.
Mike got around this by his models getting a prominent semi and then angling it towards the floor, often held in place by their leg. But once the laws were changed Mike was able to put his stunning photos of outstanding erections into his magazines… and boy, was it worth the wait.
Mike Arlen’s erections are hot! So much so that when Taschen published The Big Penis Book which explored the centuries-old fascination with the large phallus, no less than 25 of its 384 pages are dedicated to Mike’s models!
• Mike Arlen has had 15 magazines with 21 incredible men in each edition and now offers Volume 15 of Mike Arlen’s Guys PLUS a complimentary copy of an earlier issue and colour prints of recent sessions for just £9.99 from the Wetherby Studios, 23 Wetherby Mansions, Earls Court Square, London SW5 9BH. Details from 020 7373 1107.
• Read all about Mike Arlen at www.mikearlensguys.co.uk
