It begins with an arresting photo on Pinterest yesterday showing two beautiful young men in each other’s arms:
(#1) From the Fashionably Male website, “STOP & STARE Alexan Sarikamichian New Work: Agus & Adriel” on 9/26/17 — a fashion spread by the film-maker AS featuring two beautiful young models, Agustin Bruni and Adriel Pino, presented as in a bromance in which the young men “experiment with new feelings about sex, brotherhood, camaraderie”
AS is then the thread leading to the third male model, Severiano Astrada, a hunky young man projecting a tough-guy exterior as the main character in AS’s short film Severiano (2018); and to the fourth, Roman Stubrin, sometimes playful, but mostly offering an unsettling gimlet stare, intense and riveting — in an AS / Benjamin Baccetti film project (in progress) focused on him, and in an extraordinary 2024 fashion piece about him on the Spanish fashion site Fucking Young!
In Modelworld, everybody does underwear ads. Including all four of our models / actors. Everybody in their skivvies now!
(#2) Agus and Adriel, shot by AS (exhibiting his recognizable photographic style)
(#3) Roman, shot by Lucas Ricci (on the Fucking Young! site)
(#4) From the Fashionably Male site “Postman Fashion” on 8/25/15: a boyish Severiano, shot by Jo Herrera (in a totally different style)
Agus, Adriel, and Severiano are (like AS) from Argentina, Roman from Spain. (Actual biographical information about male models is surprisingly hard to come by, although there are sites giving their body measurements and clothing sizes.)
Alexan Sarikamichian. From the Altered.LA production company’s website, “ALTERED.LA Welcomes Director Alexan Sarikamichian to Roster” on 8/31/23:
Alexan started his career in film production at the Universidad Del Cine (FUC), where he met Argentine film director Eduardo ‘Teddy’ Williams. From there, he went on to develop the production of three short films, with ‘Pude ver un Puma’ being nominated for the Cinefondation Cannes Festival. His work on the short ‘La Donna’, directed by Nicolas Dolensky and starring actress Erica Rivas, also won numerous nominations across the global festival circuit. In addition, Alexan currently has two projects in post-production: a love story shot in Argentina on 16 mm film, and a short centred around the theme of ghosting.
The influence of cinema is notable in Alexan’s broader creative pursuits, recently producing music videos for many renowned national and international musicians. He has collaborated with a host of acclaimed Latin artists, including prolific Argentine actor Ricardo Darín, singer and actress Lali Espósito and pop artist Sebastián Yatra.
With a pursuit of beauty and aesthetics at the core of his projects, Alexan also has a passion for men’s fashion and has created campaign videos for brands such as Maria Cher, Blackmamba and Santiago Artemis.
AS has directed many short films: character studies of sex, love, and friendship between beautiful young people, with passionate female characters.
(#5) Severiano posing naked (and dead serious)[from Alexan Films:] Severiano is the reflection of a lost youth. He recognizes himself in his neighborhood [in Buenos Aires] and his friends are his only support. As in a teenage dream full of nostalgia and melancholy, Severiano lives through his days of youth and adulthood, where the present and the uncertainty of his future seem to be coming together.
The film is in rapid, slangy Spanish with appalling English subtitles. Oh yes, pretty much everybody smokes. All in all, I was reminded, pleasantly, of the French Nouvelle Vague movies of the 1950s and 60s.
Roman (Stubrin). Finally, we come to Roman. In an AS / Benjamin Baccetti film project (in progress) focused on him, and in an extraordinary July 2024 fashion piece about him on the Spanish fashion site Fucking Young! (fuckingyoung.es ), shot by Lucas Ricci.
A screen capture from the Roman film:
(#6) Roman unbuttoned (and staring at his phone, not us)
And then three more shots from the Fucking Young! fashion spread (to go along with #3 above):
(#7) The startling first shot, one of several of Roman with that tarantula
(#8) Roman modeling some extravagant fashion — and performing a (two-sided) pitsntits display, showcasing his armpits and his pectoral muscles (with the nipples on them)
(There’s a pits ‘n’ tits Page on this blog listing postings with such displays; they are very common in men’s underwear ads and in ads for gay porn)
(#9) Roman playing Just An Ordinary Guy, tank top and jeans (but also remarkable sunglasses)
Roman’s usual facial expression for fashion shoots, in full display in #3, is one that glowers I don’t give a shit — perhaps as a counterbalance to the beauty of his face and the slimness of his body. Masculinity must be served.