I love this photo of Max, (AKA BIG MAX) from the February 1979 Honcho…. but……
the original, from a year prior, in THE PHYSICAL MAN #6 (1978), gives more space, negative space, black space, whatever you want to call it, to the image – HONCHO crops part of Max’s left foot; the original you can see his entire foot, and you can more easily see why the right foot is partially hidden – in the black cloth/covering on the ground. The top image I scanned from my own copy of HONCHO, and I only cropped out the whited edge of the photo. Alas, my Physical Man image is from somewhere on the internet, not nearly as high quality, but definately, to me, the better framed version. Oh, and HONCHO credits “Man’s Image” for photography, but the original in Physical Man #6 actually credits the human beings – Carlo Palermo and Francesco Barone as the photographers.
3 replies on “MAX”
I agree with everything you said, but I also think they are both terrific photos, each in their own way.
The cropped version feels more intimate and has a balanced asymmetry which I really like.
The uncropped version feels more artistic, like what BJ said. I also wish we had a better quality version. I’m gonna’ check and see what
Big Max has been a favorite of mine (yes, I have a lot of favorites) for many years. He is just a big ole hunk, isn’t he? That mustache is so hot! Did you see the one from behind in The Physical Man #6? He’s sitting, so his ass doesn’t look as good as if he was standing, but it’s good! It’s too bad the more artistic photo from above was published in such a small version on page 2. I think there’s a 3rd version that’s cropped even more.
Anyway, I think it’s great that they credited the photographers.
Love this. Thanks, BJ!
you mean “freckled back MAX”?
I was looking more at his ass, but now I see he does have a good amount of large freckles, (more like moles), on his broad muscular back.
I prefer the delicious, light brown, “sun” freckles that spread over the shoulders and upper back. They kind of drive me crazy. I couldn’t find a photo of Max which showed off his shoulders well. Freckles or no, the man was a sexy giant.