Born in Germany in 1856, Wilhelm von Gloeden was a master photographer before the turn of the century.  His most notable work was that of young boys photographed in Sicily.

His natural and emotional images have rarely been mirrored since.

He found himself in the right time and place; the people of Sicily were not of a mind to feel threatened by his work, nor did they object to the nature of his photography.  In this day and time our moral sensibilities would be all a twitter; i.e. I thought the sky was falling after that split second glimpse of Janet Jackson’s nipple.

Of the 3000 plus photographs taken by von Gloeden, some 2500 did not survive WWII fascist Italy.  The police, during the Mussolini era, deemed them pornography and destroyed them.

Sadly, we  live in an age where a seventeen boy, if he texts a nude image of himself to his sixteen year old girlfriend, is called a sex offender.   Von Gloeden’s work is and has been controversial;  just why is beyond me.  We have linked nudity to sex, not something beautiful and natural in itself.  We’re in the process of teaching our youth their bodies are something shameful.  I wonder how this is going to affect their psychological health and some of the more important elements of their lives.

Personally, when I look at von Gloeden’s photography, anything perverted or criminal is the furthermost thing from my mind.  I travel back to my youth and think about all those wonderful days of innocence, of curiosity, and of what might have been.

There’s no denying von Gloeden’s images are sensual, sensual in the sense that in all of us, during our coming of age, there were strong elements of sensuality.

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Wilhelm von Gloeden, he helped us appreciate being human.

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