John S. Barrington

{{Short description|British physique photographer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''John S. Barrington''' (1920–1991){{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=104}} was a British physique photographer and publisher. Barrington's photos of nude or semi-nude men appeared widely in British and American physique magazines, sometimes under the pseudonym '''John Paignton'''.{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=104}} Barrington published many of his own physique magazines, including ''Male Model Monthly'', the first in Britain. He also published a number of books related to photography and anthropometry. Barrington was a prolific artist and publisher, and by 1984 was said to have published more nude titles than any other individual in Europe or the United States.{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=104}}

Barrington had frequent sexual encounters with men throughout his life, particularly with the men who modeled for him, though he identified as heterosexual.

==Career==

Barrington began photographing men in 1938 at the men's bathing pond at Hampstead Heath.<ref name="independent"/> He studied at St Martin's School of Art and L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=282}} In addition to photography, Barrington was also a visual artist and sculptor.{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=274}}

Barrington began working as a physique photographer in 1948.{{sfn|Deslandes|2013|page=267}} In 1954, he began publishing ''Male Model Monthly'', the first physique magazine in Britain. From 1954 until 1979, he would go on to publish many more physique magazines in Britain and the US, among the best-known being ''MAN-ifique'', ''FORMosus'', ''Superb Youth'', and ''Youth in the Sun''.{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=104}}

Barrington was known to select models in the "boy next door" mold, with average body types. His photographs were mostly taken outdoors, with models appearing in relaxed, natural poses.{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=104}}

In the 1950s and 1960s Barrington published books on anatomy and anthropometry, ostensibly for the benefit of artists.{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=104}}

==Personal life and sexuality== From the beginning of his career, Barrington frequently picked up men for sex, and engaged in sexual relations with the men who modeled for him. Despite this, throughout his life Barrington rejected the notion that he was homosexual.<ref name="another"/> According to his biographer, Barrington saw his same-sex relations as being purely for the pursuit of physical pleasure, and he sought to distance himself from the stereotypical figure of the "queen", which he reviled.<ref name="independent"/> He avoided men who self-identified as gay, and was most strongly attracted to the heterosexual men who rejected his advances.<ref name="another"/><ref name="independent"/>

In the 1950s, Barrington married the former girlfriend of one of his models. Barrington's continued sexual encounters with men were the source of some friction between him and his wife, but the two remained married until his death, and had children and grandchildren.<ref name="another"/>

==Legal troubles== Barrington was subject to frequent legal troubles, mostly in relation to obscenity laws. In 1949, he was arrested for "harassing" two undercover police officers in a public bathroom and released with a fine.<ref name="another"/>

In 1952, he was arrested for sending obscene materials through the mail. He was found guilty in 1955 and sentenced to three months in jail.<ref name="another"/>

In 1963, Barrington was arrested under the recently enacted Obscene Publications Act. His case was publicized in the American physique magazine ''Manorama'', published by Lynn Womack's Guild Press, which solicited funds for Barrington's defense, warning that "This case is not John Paignton's alone, it is the case of everyone of us."{{sfn|Johnson|2010|page=877}}

==Later life and autobiography== After being diagnosed with leukaemia, Barrington came into contact with writer Rupert Smith and sought his help in writing his life story, and the two agreed to collaborate. Barrington died of leukaemia in 1991. The book, ''Physique: The Life of John S. Barrington'', was completed by Smith and published in 1997 by Serpent's Tail.<ref name="independent"/>

==Publications== * ''The Romantic Male Nude''{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=104}} * ''Man-to-Man'' (editor){{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=282}} * ''The Romantic Male Nude''{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=282}} * ''Art and Anatomy''{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=282}} * ''A Camera Life Class''{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=282}} * ''Anthropometry For Artists''{{sfn|Cooper|2007|page=282}}

==References== <references>

<ref name="independent">{{cite news|last=Dyson|first=Jonathan|date=28 December 1997|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books-not-gay-just-anthropometrist-1290938.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220613/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books-not-gay-just-anthropometrist-1290938.html |archive-date=13 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=BOOKS; Not gay, just an anthropometrist|work=The Independent}}</ref> <ref name="another">{{cite web|url=https://www.anothermanmag.com/style-grooming/11058/john-s-barrington-the-british-physique-artist-who-defied-anti-gay-laws|title=John S. Barrington, the 1950s Artist Behind the UK's First Male Pin-Up Mag|date=13 December 2019|website=Another Man|author=Miss Rosen}}</ref>

</references>

==General references== * {{Cite journal |title=Physique pioneers: The politics of 1960s gay consumer culture |last=Johnson |first=David K. |authorlink=David K. Johnson |journal=Journal of Social History |year=2010 |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=867–892 |doi=10.1353/jsh.0.0342 |s2cid=143289271 |url=http://history.usf.edu/faculty/data/johnsonarticle.pdf |access-date=20 August 2021 |archive-date=5 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705192215/http://history.usf.edu/faculty/data/johnsonarticle.pdf |url-status=dead }} * {{cite book|title=Fully Exposed: The Male Nude in Photography|last=Cooper|first=Emmanuel|publisher=Routledge|edition=2nd|year=2007|orig-year=1st pub. 1990|oclc=1050065497}} * {{cite book|title=British queer history|editor-last=Lewis|editor-first=Brian|last=Deslandes|first=Paul R.|chapter=The cultural politics of gay pornography in 1970s Britain|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-07190-8895-7}}

Category:Physique photography Category:20th-century British photographers Category:1920 births Category:1991 deaths