What the lens cannot know - photographs of William LaRue by Minor White, 1959-1964

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I've been unable to find much of anything about "Bill" LaRue, the model for all these photographs. A young elementary school teacher from Oakland, of mixed Japanese and French heritage, he apparently met White at a photography workshop in San Francisco in 1959. White invited him to be his workshop assistant, frequent model, and travelling companion. The photographs here were taken in California, Oregon, and Utah over a span of six years. White died in 1976, but LaRue, who later went by the name of Yama LaRue, was still living as of five years ago. White was a closeted homosexual, though it wasn't much of a secret to his friends, and it was obvious enough in his work. But I know nothing about the relationship between the two men, if it was anything more than friendship. What is nevertheless clear is that White was captivated and inspired by LaRue's unusual beauty and, as with all his photographs of men, it's what the viewer easily senses beyond the lens, within the gaze of the photographer - the palpable longing - that makes these images so powerful.