history of male nude photography 126

He is one of the last great unknown male photographers of the last century, French artist Raymond Carrance was a photographer, costume designer and book illustrator ( Edmond Rostand, Henry de Monterlant, Louis Pergaud, Jules Renard, Jean Giono) who, working mostly in the 1950′s and 60′s, created a private unique body of homoerotic dreamscapes under the pseudonym Czanara. His work is somewhat reminiscent of painters Paul Cadmus and Jared French and photographer Wilhelm Von Gloeden; using overlays of abstract graphics over dreamy images of languid young men, it was absolutely new and innovative for its time, distinctly European and profoundly different from the still reigning but ending beefcake style. Raymond Carrance (1921-1998) died in obscurity having no heirs, his work was sold at auction by the French state, but luckily fell into the hands of an intelligent bookseller; the monograph 'Czanara: drawings and photographs', 192 pages, 11.5x10.5 inches, was published by Antinous Press, New York, in June 2008. (Thanks to Wessel + Connor Gallery).
http://www.antinouspress.com/
http://wesseloconnor.com/