Physique: The Life of John S. Barrington

by Rupert Smith

A depiction of bohemian life in London, New York and Paris, the outlandish schemes that often ended in prison, and a series of strange friendships and celebrities from Coward to Cocteau to Lennon and Bob Marley. Over 100 illustrations.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, LGBT

Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

Rupert Smith was born in Washington DC in 1960, and grew up in Surrey. He has lived in London since 1978. After graduating with a BA in English, he continued his studies at the University of London and in 1986 completed his PhD in theatre history. He is the author of many novels, under his own name and as James Lear and Rupert James. As a journalist, he has contributed to The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, The Times, The Los Angeles Times, Radio Times, Time Out, Gay Times and probably some other publications with the word "time" in the title.

His latest book GRIM is his first foray into horror.

Reviews

[Adam Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I really liked this.
The photos were great, the research exhaustive and I believe more care was put into this book than any project Barrington attempted during his life time.

One thing I got out of this was the sense of failure and the feeling of wasting a life, wasting opportunities. The man is known as a pioneer in his field yet he was always looking for recognition, always trying to chnage to a different and more "legit" line of work.

Two things I got from this are be happy with what you have and your lot in life. The second thing is that if you're having trouble seeing things to satisfactory completion, get assistance.

It seems at the end Barrington did get assistance from author Rupert Smith, but he never was able to reliquinish enough control and I imagine the period Smith worked with him to be a very difficult one indeed. I'm sure that could be a different book in itself, but I feel Smith does a good job here leaving these things aside. I think I would have been too tempted to say "The man is fucking crazY!"

I felt the prose overly simplified and it's hard to keep momentum in a story where everthing the guy does fails, yet I'm very glad I read it, I'm glad it was written.

[Hugo Hamilton]

This is a fascinating look into the world of gay life during and after WW2. John Barrington was a well-known physique photographer who disproved all the standard notions of the closeted Forties and Fifties. Although he was not classically good-looking in any sense of the word, was outrageously talented at finding and picking up some of the most beautiful men of his era, using his camera as a means of introduction. At the same time he was, to all appearances, quite happily married. On top of his prolific but not always technically brilliant, camera-work, he was also an an accomplished artist and magazine editor. His story is one of constant adventure - he took numerous trips to the Riviera and other European destinations is search of "models" (with most of whom he seems to have had sexual relations, of one sort or another), battling with the closed minded judicial system at the time and alway rebounding.maintaining voluminous correspondence with clients for his photographic wares. Rupert Smith does a good job of making him seem both likeable and wildly eccentric, but above all, indomitable.

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating piece of British 'Gay' History circ. London Soho 1940's. Beautifully illustrated book that is super interesting.