Born September 16: Wilhelm von Gloeden

In 1876, when he was twenty and suffering from what was likely tuberculosis, Wilhelm von Gloeden left Germany for a life in Taormina, Sicily where, depending on your view, he became a great photographer, a pornographer, or a pioneer of sexual tourism. Setting up his young male models, usually nude or half-clothed outdoors, often in pairs or groups, in poses to suggest ancient Greek or Roman scenes, he made over 3,000 glass plate negatives between 1890 and the start of the Great War. In 1936, five years after his death, Mussolini's police destroyed more than 2,500 of the negatives, which he had left to his lover Pancrazio Buciuni, who had been one of his models. The images that survive are startling for their technical accomplishment and their sexual tension. They became popular as postcards in Europe, Britain, and America. Von Gloeden was already rich and shared the profits with his models and he helped fund many small businesses in the region, which critics say may explain why the locals tolerated his homosexuality and the increasing tourist trade. Many of his images are collected in various books such as Wilhelm von Gloeden: Photography (192 pages), Wilhelm Von Gloeden (63 pages with a double nude cover), Wilhelm Von Gloeden: Taormina (83 pages), and Wilhelm von Gloeden by Roger Peyrefitte.