Product Description

An amazing collection of full-color, sexually explicit 3-D photographs of men taken in the early 1950s by Denny Denfield. Denfield was an amateur physique photographer in California who worked as an accountant for the US Army. His photographs, never distributed publicly given their illegality at the time, display a skill, wit, and daring rarely seen, and with their rich Kodachrome colors and mid-century decors, can now be appreciated for their roguish, almost naïve charm.

The essay by David Chapman, from whose own private collection these photographs appear, sheds fascinating light on Denfield's secret life and work (stereography had been invented in 1850, but the advent of a compact, easy-to-use 3-D camera in 1947 allowed amateurs like Denfield to produce their own). A narrative by acclaimed writer Thomas Waugh (Lust Unearthed, Out/Lines, Gay Art: A Historic Collection) places Denfield's work in the historical context of homoerotic photography over the last century.

The 3-D photographs comprise dual images that "come alive" when viewed through the 3-D glasses, supplied with the book. Equal parts kitschy, informed, and sexy, Comin' at Ya! is a collection that is both fun and historically fascinating.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #495627 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Spiral-bound
• 176 pages

Review
Comin' at Ya! does away with the myth that the 1950s were boring. The enclosed glasses merge the dual pictures for maximum effect.
―The Tyee (thetyee.ca) (The Tyee 20080122)

This resurrection of lost queer physique photography is a clever and rewarding blend of packaging and content.... The pictures are a voyeur's delight; the text by Chapman and Waugh give this book historical heft.
―Richard Labonte, Bookmarks (Bookmarks 20080205)

What's really fun and fascinating are the vintage pictures from the '50s by Denfield of men in swim trunks large enough to be diapers, or posing on craggy rocks in the nude.... The perfect coffee table book. .
―HX Magazine (New York) (HX Magazine 20080131)

Fun and entertaining.
―New Gay Travel Guide (newgaytravelguide.com) (New Gay Travel Guide 20080215)

Looking at [these photographs] in this new volume allows us to see precursors to the modern age of gay male pornography, but there is something more than that here: sheer beauty.... The true value of a book like this is that many of us have never been aware of the work of the photographer. Now we have a beautiful book which contains beautiful and exciting photographs that might have been lost to us forever.
―Eureka Pride (Eureka Springs, Arkansas) (Eureka Pride 20080214)

An amazing collection of full-color, explicit 3-D photos of men.... Chapman and Waugh have rescued Denfield's art and brought it right into your living room.
―Out Front Colorado (Out Front Colorado 20080201)

A surprisingly classy book about an overlooked part of gay history, male physique modeling as a cover for gay erotica in the 1950s.... The naked men that fill each page are brought to startling life.... The photographs really are stunning. Their importance is discussed in the two essays, both of which prove to be enlightening, and provide a portrait of the private man behind the lens.
―EDGE Boston (EDGE Boston 20080212)

Viewed through 3-D glasses (each volume includes a sturdy pair), the photos and their impressive illusion of depth may prove titillating for many. Despite the allure, I found myself scrutinizing these strangers and the tableaus in which they stood, sprawled or reclined, wondering about the queer lives led in a bygone era.
―Xtra! West (Xtra! West 20070315)

Denfield's stereoviews — meant to be viewed through 3-D glasses, a sturdy plastic pair of which are provided with the book — don't just spontaneously step outside the sucked-in abs and strained muscles of physique pictorials into occasional messy, drunken hardcore. More successfully, they venture into atmospheric realms. This is especially the case in photos taken at Baker Beach and the nearby woods: rock formations and sun-dappled tree trunks and branches dramatically play off and sometimes even overshadow the human subjects. Furtiveness and a potent melancholic experience of the ephemeral are built into this adult version of the childhood ViewMaster experience.... Denfield's stereoview work might be richest when viewed as a light West Coast — with an emphasis on the coastal — answer to Alvin Baltrop's gay lib–era photos of the piers in New York. Both photographers took their vision to the literal edges of America.
―San Francisco Bay Guardian (San Francisco Bay Guardian 20081110)

This new book of photographs is remarkable in a number of ways.... That fifty years later, the subjects still have the powers to get the hormones flowing attests, perhaps, to the universality of male beauty and desire over time and place. But they also reveal a world so different from our own in style: that paradoxically straightlaced but voluptuous world of America in the 50s.
―Gay & Lesbian Review (Gay & Lesbian Review 20090214)

In comparison with the erotic images so readily available today, the Denfield photos may appear tame and old-fashioned. Yet, for their time, they were amazingly bold and they still retain an air of titillation, the excitement of the forbidden. Comin' at Ya! gathers together a series of colourful visual artifacts from our past.
―Wayves (Wayves 20090214)

One of the most esthetically curious and impressive titles I found was Comin' at Ya! It's amazing that it exists, when you consider the risks that Denfield took shooting these pictures in the 1950s and 60s. And you can't help but revel in the social history captured here.
―Vancouver Sun (Vancouver Sun )

Our present favorite, by title and packaging alone, is Comin' at Ya!, which includes 3-D glasses! The beefcake takes you back to the day of Farley Granger, Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, and wild, wild parties in Malibu.
―Seattle Weekly (Seattle Weekly )

About the Author
David L. Chapman is the author of 11 previous books, including Comin' at Ya!: The 3-D Photographs of Denny L. Denfield (Arsenal 2007) and Adonis: The Male Physique Pin-up. He also writes for various bodybuilding magazines. He lives in Seattle.

Thomas Waugh teaches film studies at Montreal's Concordia University. He is a critic, public lecturer, and festival programmer, and is the author of the Lambda Award shorlisted Out/Lines and Hard to Imagine: Gay Male Eroticism in Photography and Film from their Beginnings to Stonewall. He also co-wrote the new edition of Gay Art with Felix Lance Falkon.

Customer Reviews

They Come Alive
Chapman, David L. and Waugh, Thomas. "Coming at Ya":The Homoerotic 3-D Photographs of Denny Denfield", Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007.

They Come Alive

Amos Lassen

Denny Denfield was an amateur physique photographer in the early 1950's. His photographs which never received public viewing because of the temper of the times are extremely interesting and in some cases risqué. In fact, even in their naiveté, they are somewhat roguish. Looking at them in this new volume allows us to see precursors to the modern age of gay male pornography but there is something more than that here--sheer beauty.
The photographs are known as stereography and by looking at what appears to be two identical photos, with the aid of the glasses that come with the book, shows a kind of photography that many of us are not familiar with.
When the 3-D camera in a compact, easy to use format became popular in 1947, Denfield was able to capture these wonderful male images. They are kitschy, they are sexy and they are beautiful. We have an absolutely amazing collection here.
With the photographs, we get a narrative by David L. Chapman who owns this collection of male pictures and he explains a great deal about Denfield's life and work. He explains how that before the 1970's, all homoerotic art was considered dangerous and that Denfield was in part responsible for opening the gates to artistic freedom of the homosexual image.
Thomas Waugh, a Montreal scholar and writer also contributes a valuable essay to the book as he shows how Denfield's photographs fit into the historic context of homoeroticism.
What is the true value of a book like this is that many of us have never been aware of the work of the photographer. Now we have a beautiful book which contains beautiful and exciting photographs that might have been lost to us forever.

if you're shopping for porn this aint falcon...
...it is, however; nostalgic, titillating, risque, kitsch, 50's and early 60's style physique photo worship fun with some (almost) soft porn (think what you'd see in a playguy or blue) content. it's great parlor table party fun and a perfect gift for those gays and single women (and perhaps a few married ones as well) that you're having difficulty finding the right gift for. if you love hard-core mapplethorpe you will be bored to tears. i found it charming. it is very saddening when you think of all the photos by mr. denfield that were destroyed over time. how fortunate to have the likes of david chapman and thomas waugh out there preserving this photographic past for the future. hopefully others will join in this preservation of gay art.

Loads of Fun!
Retro homoerotic physique pics in 3-D! Who comes up with this stuff!?! It's hot and funny at the same time. Comes with viewing glasses. The only problem is getting the soft cover book flat enough to see the goods.