The Vintage Male Physique

Check out this great site with blogs - especially this one regarding John Davidson with two videos! https://www.adonismale.com/blogs/entry/4166-john-davidson/

 I was doing some research into gay news magazine and found this site: https://www.houstonlgbthistory.org Full issues have been scanned in and it is a treasure trove of history.  One particularly fun publication is the Gay Coloring Book .  The site is a bit hard to navigate but quite fun.

  45 Photos

 Here are four new ones I've obtained. Two unknown models - the first has a great body and the pose with the dagger is something else.  Not the most handsome face.  Below is an excellent example of Bob using glass to get those lovely background lighting effects.  Excellent pose and overall composition.  A real treasure! An odd pose for AMG.  Love the sailor's cap and below, this one didn't develop very well, but was a good composition regardless.  Both models are unknown.

  A great Tate article on Mapplethorpe: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/robert-mapplethorpe-11413/photographs-robert-mapplethorpe

  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WIYHsv043ZEV8RbnWEchgutdowc0fokS/view?usp=sharing    

 From AMG!  Right click to view and print full-sized.  I believe this was distributed in the 60's.

 I'm always on the lookout for new Bob Mizer/Athletic Models Guild memorabilia, which for me, has consisted of Physique Pictorials and original photo prints that could be ordered while the magazine was in print.  Yesterday I bought a lot of 71 issues of PP, some of which I already have and some I don't.  It is getting harder and harder to locate specific issues, especially those of the 50's.  I'm excited to get lot and go through them!

   Mike has had this blog for a while, though no longer updated, it has a ton of pictures that are always great to look at.  Check it out! https://malemodelsvintagebeefcake.blogspot.com/     

 Bob Delmonteque - the famous health and fitness guy.  This is quite possibly my favorite of his pictures.  From my personal collection.  I believe this is from Dave Martin.

Clifford Oettinger Photos from the Saugatuk Beach State Park series - 1955, all from my personal collection.  

 

 A lovely little video from the National Galleries of Scotland and Heehaw:  

Bruce Bellas (1909 - 1974) aka Bruce of Los Angeles I have a few lovely pictures from Bruce - the two types I've noticed are the fancy script stamp, "Bruce" and the plain Bruce of Los Angeles stamp on earlier ones.  Here are two I own that are lovely when examined closer.  The models names, I have yet to discover unless I failed to note it from the back.   Popular 30's, 40's and 50's poses toyed with the notion of Greek/Roman perfection and played on that trope.  Physique models took cues from bodybuilder poses and heterosexual men were easily duped into shedding clothing to show off their hard work.      This photo of a faux fencing pose is an early example of a fully nude model without the genitals on display.  Notice in each of these poses, arms and legs are not hidden and the pose is deliberately instructed and captured.   See my video flipping through the American Photography of the Male Nude - the first volume featuring some amazing mod...

 Welcome!   Let's kick this off with an image I had never seen before that I recently acquired.  It's attributed to Irv Johnson and is of Glenn Bishop - an early image to be certain!  Glenn was into bodybuilding in high school, was a life guard and was into a few sports, including gymnastics and swimming.  The date that this was taken is up for debate but most likely from the early 50's.   I've collected a few things dealing with Glenn, including a rare poster-sized photo from the Michigan state park series as well as five other 11x17 photos from that shoot from Clifford Oettinger.   This makes me think what started me into collecting physique material.  I collected nude male photography books for a bit and am a Robert Mapplethorpe fan (Just Kids by Patti Smith is an amazing book).   I bought a few Physique Pictorials on eBay and that started my interest in Bob Mizer.  I'll talk more about that later.  Enjoy this rare and hairless...