Dear John

Holy crap. I literally have a stack of Historical Hot Guys to spotlight. How did THAT happen? Well, I'll tell ya: Hard work, luck and the kindness of friends. :)

I've had this one in the hopper for quite some time. I was flipping through the book Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits. I wasn't familiar with her name but I was surprised to learn that I was familiar with her photographs. She took this:

Migrant Mother, 1936.

With all due respect this isn't about you, Ms. Lange.

It's about John Collier, Jr.
.

What up, salty dawg?

I literally couldn't find any pictures of the young Collier online...so I hopscotched over some pesky copyright laws and scanned this pic right out of the book. Frankly, I think I'm doing the world a favor. This will be my exhibit A for my defense in court:

I think it's a slam dunk defense.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah.

(If I'm going to jail I might as well make it count. I hope you appreciate it, Interwebs!)

John Collier, Jr. was born in 1913 and his dad, John Collier, was a social activist who later served as the Commissioner of Indian Affairs from 1933 to 1945. Sounds like John Jr. had a pretty cool and artistic upbringing. According to americanimage.unm.edu:

When Collier was twelve, he was apprenticed to Maynard Dixon, a well-known painter, to afford him opportunities outside of formal schooling. Dixon 's wife, Dorothea Lange, exposed him to photography.

Speaking of cool...

At the age of 16, Collier sailed as a yeoman on a four-mast sailing ship to Europe, contributing to his disciplined work habits and his lifelong love of the sea.

I'm guessing that's where this picture was taken. (I'm hoping he's 18 in that pic...or else I'm creepy and shit.) The fact remains...he is very handsome. And the image is wonderful. And I like his hair.

Also, he was talented photographer himself. He has a Flickr!!! Not too shabby for a dead guy. (I kid!) According to Marjorie Young, he was "best known for his documentary photographs of home interiors and the details they revealed about their occupants' lives." I highly recommend poking around his Flickr. Interesting stuff.