Trade. Jailbird. Gay for Pay.
Those would be the names for the men seen in these photos. Men from the San Francisco of a quarter century ago, tattooed drifters picked up from lowlife saloons along the Tenderloin, in the lobbies of boozy single-men hotels, outside of store-front clinics where you could sell your blood by the pint.
David Hurles came upon these idle, pent-up studs like a stroke of good luck, a chance to make some easy money, and all they had to do was jerk off while he snapped pictures and made tapes of them talking about their lives.
A skinny unassuming guy, Hurles had made a name for himself in locally produced porn reels, thanks to his oversized organ and his double-jointed ability to auto-fellate (always an ice-breaker).
Now he was in business for himself: “Old Reliable” as he called his “tape and picture” company, and as he himself became known to millions of mail-order fans with a taste for sexy psychos.
Hurles specialized in an extreme type of marginalized man. Rough trade is too tame a word. These guys seemed to be fresh out of Alcatraz and two steps away from San Quentin.
Their arrogant sneers and frequent bird-flipping at the camera seemed to dismiss not merely the gay viewer but the whole stinking world. They appealed to an intense sort of bottom man — one who thrilled to their bullying trash talk, to the torrents of rage, the hint of violence.
Now the best of Old Reliable has been gathered in a large-format photo book Speeding, written and designed by Rex (himself a celebrated homo illustrator). Mostly photos, the book features occasional reflections from Rex on censorship, the politics of pornography and the overwhelming power of Hurles’ raw photo techniques.
Our one quibble with the book is that it does not feature an interview with Hurles himself (who, we learn, continues to work with roughnecks, though he has moved on to shooting videotapes). It would have been fascinating to hear anecdotes about his models, how he managed to get them not only in the house but out as well, with his valuables and life intact. Perhaps the photographer, who maintains neither an email address or a working website, wishes to remain a phantom of our collective imagination, the legendary Old Reliable of mysterious origin, whereabouts unknown, forever one step ahead of the law.
What we do learn of David Hurles (mug shot at right) is loosely outlined: Born in Cincinnati, goes West, becomes first a porn model then a porn photographer in San Francisco. He gets arrested a few times for sending pornography through the mail, then moves his operation from the foggy waterfront of the Bay Area to the seedy side streets off Hollywood Boulevard.
In Hollywood, Hurles finds an even more hardened hustler eyeing the passing scene, many of them strung out on speedballs (hence, the book’s title). Thumbs suspended from levi pockets, fingers idly drumming their bulgy wares, they seem more hunter than hunted. Their suspicious expressions and paranoid drug-eyes will soon be caught with an almost harsh finality in the lens of the skinny photographer who has just approached them.
The most amazing thing about Old Reliable’s work is how powerful these seemingly amateur snapshots are, how their snap-dash quality enhances the sense of dirty furtiveness, of wild dick on the loose. They are, as the review on Amazon points out, “more Weegee than Weber.”
Author Rex makes a provocative argument in favor of Hurles that pits him against the polished pornography of studios like Falcon and of museum darlings like Robert Mapplethorpe.
“Hurles chose to downplay technical fireworks with his camera in order to focus on the emotional pyrotechnics of his models,” contends Rex. As a result, Old Reliable’s catalog of grifters and street hustlers “have the unvarnished emotional truth of passport photos combined with the no-frills utility of real estate photography … which in a sense — given the product they’re selling — they are.”
The author then praises Hurles’ “sometimes irritating trait” of askew angles and blurred shots, which he deems a refreshing break from “the American obsession with technical perfection.”
“America’s puritanical views on sex have resulted in sharply focused and brightly lit figure studies being designated as pornography.” But this, he asserts, is a mistake, is merely an antiseptic counterfeit. “Real sexual photography actually has more in common with sports or candid news photography, where the blur and smudge of action lends authenticity to the proceeding.”
“A generation of gay photographers weaned on the pretty but stilted photographs of George Platt Lynes, Bruce of Los Angeles, and Robert Mapplethorpe,” Rex observes, “have accepted clean, flattering aesthetics as an escape from the tough, in-your-face realities of genuine erotica.” The general culture has contributed to this trend as well. “In their endless quest for pretty pictures that don’t make political waves, museum and gallery directors perpetuate the myths of what comprises erotica — and just what the real axis of homosexuality turns on.”
You’ll find a full gallery of Old Reliable’s most reliable hot shots here:
(MEMBERS / non-MEMBERS)
You’ll flip for 150 non-stop pages
of Old Reliable’s work in
Speeding by Rex
Old Reliable’s live-action videos
are available though
Bijou World of Chicago
See Also: Nightcharm’s
When Rough Trade Was King
Solo Conocer
Hot Cocks, Ugly Guys, that need to shave their pubic area.
Oh Rob, you are silly! Shave their pubic hair! What a thought!
hot dick shave it
what a nasty pubic area, shave and you have more cock to go around:-D
we’re 5 seconds away from someone taking a twink and photoshopping them into cumlicious street trash.
I still have that original magazine. I still jerkoff to it. The days of real men. I am so sick of these shaved pussy twinks these days.
I agree with Bill. Hot, hot, hot. Nasty men, hard bones, dirty feet. Too much!
—–
Hurles had made a name for himself in locally produced porn reels, thanks to his oversized organ and his double-jointed ability to auto-fellate (always an ice-breake——
I WANT TO SEE HIM:::::::
btw, D&G is now showing pubic hair.. so don´t worry : hair is hot again :-))
from barcelona
excellent photos
good
that is fucking sick shit i like the hott ass guys that shave there cocks
I “came of age” looking at Hurles’ videos and photos… can’t imagine how many times I jacked off to fantasies of these real men, showing their sexuality for the viewer’s pleasure. The vidoeos were personal and private, adding to their sexual power. I still have my collection, and they still arouse me.
Don’t Shave ur cocks
lets have sex
I did jerk off when I seen it but shave it
Sorry everyone but, I found these photos quite nasty. I think that as young gay men we shold look to the future for stimulation not the past.
Man sure could have a party with all thoes dick.
Excellent photos. Nice full pubes on all the models. Those wanting shaved men need to go somewhere else.
Yes, Timathy, they *are* quite nasty. Juicyly, dirtily, deliciously nasty. Nasty…yum!
I miss Old Reliable. Anybody want to unload their old tapes, let me know.
man oldies porn is so much hotter than twinks… damn underfed shrimp… this is much better…
I loved them. They’re amazing good. Beautiful guys. Hot cocks. Oh! my heart! They’re a hunk of ass! I want fuck them.
MEN have body hair! That is what evolution has produced. If you want to have sex with a hairless person, why not try a WOMAN? Waxing and body shaving are for those WOMEN who feel the need to appear more feminine. I quite like men who are NATURALLY smooth skinned, but hairy guys are sexy too. The current fashion for body waxing and shaving will soon seem as daft as the seventies fashion for chest wigs.
REALLY HUGE DICKS BUT I agree they need to shave all that hair off at least some of it
Yeah, bring on all that raging hard cock, abundance of pubic hair, natural, fragrant man-stink and bad attitude! These fuckers are real men!
I actually lived in the building across from Hurles in Hollywood. His building faced Highland Blvd and i was on Franklin. William Faulkner once lived in that same building.Kinda ironic since he wrote the Big Sleep with a subplot of hustlers and a porno ring.
Several of my tricks posed for Hurles. And I later got slides and tapes of all of the boys I knew. As far as these transients respecting Hurles, they didn’t. And he got robbed and his files trashed several times in the 10 years I lived in the area (79-89). I used to get his mail catalog and see him sometimes at the hollywood post office on Wilcox.
As far as the guys I knew. Well, It might take me a long time to tell you the story or even e-mail the pictures I took of them which were more romantic and not gritty like he did. One of the boys, Indian Doug is still around but back home in Texas.
Oh, well. Thanks for reminding me of that time and letting me add a bit to the Hurles legacy. One last comment, I think his Hollywood era photos are a mix of Larry Clark and the guy who did Raised by Wolves - whose name escapes me now.
the boy’s are hott but i like girls also
i like girls better
There is nothing phoney about these models. They are natural, earthy and butch. These guys are what I fantasize about spending a few hours, but would never have the nerve to do. So, I’ll just pull out my Old Reliable catalog and peruse the black and white photos of superhung guys who never had a weight problem.
great
What is it with body shaving??? If I want a smooth body I’ll sleep with a woman. Do these guys realize how re-dick-ulous they look? why would someone want to look like an 8-year old (or much worse a woman)?
Nice, nice, nice. Shaved is good but nothing beats natural pubic hair. I love natural men, too, but I have the nerve to pursue them, with limits, of course. The hardest way to get laid by one of these studs is to act like them. Act gay, but not too gay, and smile a lot. Use eye contact. I only get them when they can tell I’m a bit effiminate . . . they don’t want to waste their time either.
KSF is right about natural hair
I loved them. They’re amazing good. Beautiful guys. Hot cocks. Oh! my heart! They’re a hunk of ass! I want to fuck them.
Men are not supposed to shave anything. These guys look like guys are supposed to look. Especially the one at the top.
God it makes me want to suck some cock
Dear Timathy,
I’m terribly sorry that homosexuals don’t come stamped with an expiration date so everyone will know when to throw them out.
Perhaps someday, but not today.
signed,
some gay guy old enough to be your father.
please mail me all free gay male magazines you can thanks
don’t shave the pubic area
I have about 30 of his videos and they still get me going after all these years! The hairy natural look is so much more of a hot look than a trimmed bush!
I m getting excited to see thees loly pops its may be ymmy.
and i want to touch the biggest in this croude of cock.:()
Hi,
I want to say thanks to all who have taken the time to comment on my work. It was my whole life from the 1960s until “retirement” in this century. And, I hope I’m not done yet! Life was very good to me. As for the models I normally photographed (and so forth and so on), I most often used men who turned me on personally, and who I could also get interested (in sex, modeling, whatever it took…) to get to come home with me. After that, one thing easily…usually…led to another. Well, I have more stories than I’ll ever have time to tell, but if anyone has a simple, direct question, I will be happy to answer it. The compound, complex questions, however, make my fingers hit too many keys at once. David
I’ve been dubbing my old vintage porn to dvd because even after all these years the still work. I wanted to do this before I would loose everything. I can across old reliable #46 & Boxing #82 tried to find more out on the internet but was unable.
Does anyone know where to find out more on these tapes?
Thanks
Andy of Santa Rosa CA