Then: Naked White Power
Back around 2012, I owned a gallery in Marysville, California, and I would hire live models for my artists to sketch, paint, and sculpt. (Live model is artist-speak for naked.) One of the models I hired was Greg. He cold-called me one day and said he’d heard I hired models. He was soft-spoken, surprisingly respectful (it’s rare that anyone calls me Ms. Noonan), and amicable. We chatted on the phone for a bit about his experience in modeling and set a date for him to model. During that same call, I also scheduled a one-on-one session with him in my photo studio after the group session as I love shooting naked men.
Before we ended our phone call, he mentioned he had tattoos and asked if that was okay. I told him that I couldn’t recall a model recently that didn’t have some so it was fine.
He arrived early for the session, dressed in jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. A few of my artists were already at the gallery getting set up and hanging out. I introduced him around and then took him to the back room where the models would undress and stash their clothes.
I handed him a robe, and he asked if I wanted to see his tattoos. “Sure,” I replied, knowing that a lot of people enjoy having others examine their ink.
He cast his eyes downward and softly said, “I hope this won’t be a problem. These are from my past.” What he revealed as he pulled off his shirt was far beyond anything I could have imagined.
Greg had white power tattoos. Not just a tiny swastika or a faded Confederate flag, these were big prominent tattoos.
I’m quick on my feet in any sort of odd situation so I didn’t lose my composure in spite of being shocked at what was before me. I looked for a moment or two longer at the assortment of tattoos and then said, “Well, I will tell you right now that I have one black artist who will be here tonight and at least two Jewish artists. Will this be a problem for you?”
“No, ma’am, not problem at all, if they’re okay with it. This is all from my past.”
I nodded and walked out to the gallery and gathered up my artists to tell them what they were about to see. The gallery was our “home” and if any of them were uncomfortable with the idea of a guy with white power tats modeling in our space, I planned to have him exit out the back door.
The only thing someone asked was if he was planning to model nude.
I said he was.
“Cool. Let’s get the session started,” was the consensus.
With everyone settled into their spots, Greg came out, disrobed, and started his first pose. The artists burrowed into their mediums and that beautiful vibration of artists creating settled over the space.
While I do draw and paint, my preferred medium is photography. I moved around the room and shot Greg from different angles. As I did this, I had time to look longer at the ink on his skin.
As I looked longer at him, I read the name tattooed on his back.
Gregory Withrow.
Holy mother fucker. Is this really him? I wondered.
My mind flipped back through bits and pieces from over the years that I’d read about the white power movement.
I kept shooting as my artists continued to draw. Over the course of three hours, Greg held seemingly impossible poses for as long as the artists needed.
At the end of that session, the artists cleared out and it was just Greg and me in the gallery. I put my flashes into position and changed up the music to a disco mix. Greg danced, grooved, and posed for me over the next hour.
As the session went on, I asked if he was who I thought he was.
He said yes.
Greg began to detail his journey with the white power movement, starting when he founded the White Student Union at American River College in 1979. From this WSU, the Aryan Youth Movement (an offshoot of WAR — White Aryan Resistance) was born.
Lone Wolf is tattooed down the back of his arms. As Greg explained to me, the Lone Wolf concept is a decentralized way to continue work within the movement but not put the whole organization at risk.
Hands-down, he remains the best live model I’ve ever had.
The way he held poses for my artists and the great poses he did were unparalleled. After the group session, I scheduled him for another group session at the request of the artists. Sadly, he could not come to that session and so I filed my photos away until just recently when I got a phone call.
That phone call was from Greg! Greg wanted to schedule a session where I would come shoot him. At first, we’d talked about an outdoor session in the spring. But over the course of the past few phone calls, we realized that working together on a long term project would be far more interesting.
Right now, we are exploring the idea of the body after life ends. Plastinization, composting, donation to science, and other avenues are all on the table. Greg and I will document and illustrate these concepts and ideas through photography and other mediums.
Follow this project and others from me on my photo site at AmeriCalifornia.com
