https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/den-bell/physique-pictorial-relaunch-bob-mizers-male-photo

Bob by John Palatinus

Here's a photo by another man who knew how to pack a model into a pair of pants!

In the Summer 1958 issue of "Physique Pictorial," Bob Mizer wrote the following article on what he deemed excesses by a couple of certain photographers --


THE “BIG BASKET” FRAUD.

Though the great majority of persons interested in physique photography and art are idealistic in their concepts and are dismayed at vulgar displays, there seems to be a limited segment with a one-track mind interested in seeing an exaggerated masculine appendage. While the average physique photographer does not force his models to wear a steel corset or truss under trousers or trunks to insure complete lack of form, neither does he go out of his way to point up more form than is naturally apparent. But a couple of photographers, particularly one on the U. S. East Coast and one in England, have apparently reasoned that if girls with flat breasts can wear falsies, why can’t ungifted men do something similar. Consequently, one of these uses an object known as a “dildoe,” while the other employs an old sock appropriately molded. The result tends to be ludicrous rather than sensual. While some customers of these firms have been offended by the ridiculous, unnatural exaggerations, others have been annoyed by the insult to their intelligence.

There is a considerable difference between a picture done for vulgar display and one done to portray beauty and handsomeness. There is also a certain border line which it is wise for photographers to consider a “no man’s land.” This border line shifts from year to year – sometimes more liberal, sometimes more strict. Greedy or unthinking photographers who consistently go to the extreme tend actually to galvanize the opposition to all physical display, and thereby push the borderline into the stricter side.

Frankly, we feel that an athlete sporting an exaggerated artificial “bulge” looks as ridiculous and unaesthetic as a boy sticking out his tongue. We have personally written our sentiments to some of the offending photographers but thus far they have remained silent. If you should at any time receive mailings from such firms, write them a letter urging them to keep their offerings clean and thus avoid catastrophe for themselves as well as the entire physique field.

The two artists he was referring to were obviously John Palatinus and Scott of London (Tom Nicoll). Both artists' sensibilities were sympatico, though they formed independently on separate shores. In 1959, Palatinus would be arrested for selling his "lewd" photos through the mail, and in the very early 60s Nicoll would put his camera away, apparently voluntarily.

Now, 50 years later, you'll be able to see this photo of Bob as part of an exhibit of Palatinus' work to be held in Paris at the gallery Au Bonheur Du Jour in just a few weeks....

My, how the world has changed!

Jim Grant by AMG

For Maciste --

Is this the Jim Grant you're looking for? If so, I'm sorry to say this is the only photo I have of him, from "Physique Pictorial" circa 1956.

David O'Boyle by AMG

David was a frequent visitor to the AMG Studios in the mid-late sixties -- Bob Mizer took photos of him over a several year span. Here is a page from Physique Pictorial from around 1966, introducing the world to this hunky badboy. He fell in and out of Mizer's favor, as his commentary in future issues of PP would show (but Bob new a fan-favorite when he saw one, and had no compunctions about showcasing a model he wasn't particularly fond of at the time!). I've followed this up with a few nudes that show David looking very serious -- not the devil-may-care attitude we normally associate with him.

More to come soon...!

Joao Leal Filho - beije-me toda sobre! -- part one

The interesting things you can find through Google -- from "Beyond Carnival: Male Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century Brazil" by James Naylor Green:

The publishers of "Forca e Saude" and "Musculo" even attempted international marketing of their publications by submitting a nude picture of Joao Leal Filho, the Brazilian national bodybuilding champion in 1949-50, to the United States muscle quarterly "Physique Pictorial," where it appeared in the fall 1954 issue. Leal Filho, who trained at the Forca e Saude Gym in Recife, was shown in the shower, discreetly posed to avoid exposing his genitals. For a U.S. $1.00 American readers could request a sample copy of the Brazilian publication, mailed directly from Rio de Janeiro. Although few foreigners may actually have sent off for a copy of "Forca e Saude" in order to enjoy the muscular beauty of Joao Leal Filho, the editors of these Brazilian magazines understood the publications' dual audiences. Those Brazilians who bought "Musculo" and "Forca e Saude" merely to keep up on the latest news of the national bodybuilding organization, which was headed by the editors of the magazines, may have missed the eroticism of these artistic contributions and seminude pictures, but homosexuals bought the publications for their gorgeously muscled men. The magazines offered an exciting stimulus for solitary sexuality under the cover of a sport's publication, and they were one of the few ways that isolated individuals far from Rio or Sao Paulo might have ongoing access to soft athletic porn.

Vic Seipke - a Superstar forever!

Back when I had v-m-p up as a real website, the page that received the most response from visitors was the one I put together on Vic Seipke. Part of what I wrote on that page was

Vic Seipke's trademark pompadour and long, lean body have made him one of the most memorable of the competitive bodybuilders and physique models of the 1950s. His career in the sport stretched from the 1950 Mr. Michigan contest up to the 1977 Mr. America contest, when he was 45 years old! He won two major titles in his career -- the 1955 Junior Mr. America, and 1976 Masters Mr. America.

It may have been at the Mr. Michigan contest that Vic caught the eye of the man known to us only as "Spectrum." According to a blurb in the June, 1954 Physique Pictorial, Vic [was] 5' 9", 195 lbs [and] Mr. Michigan for 1951. Very active in football, soccer, basketball. Vic has a 19" neck, 48" chest, 29" waist, 26" thigh. In a 1957 Physique Pictorial, Bob Mizer wrote Spectrum [--] took the first shots of Vic when he was 19. At one time he weighed 200#, all muscle, but he deliberately cut down his thigh size to a more pleasing proportion.

Besides showcasing Vic's magazine cover appearances and the smattering of B&W Spectrum photos that I had collected over the years, I had the great pleasure of premiering scans of 26 color slides that had been hand-delivered to me by a fan of the site who lived near my then-home of Hollywood, CA. (That breakfast we had together is still a highlight of my time in LA, Mr. B!) These slides were so popular that copies of the scans as photographs started appearing on eBay not too long after (and still appear for sale there today -- I can match up the scratches).

I had always meant to continue with Vic's page at the site, with page 2 showcasing his nude work with Douglas of Detroit and Bob Delmonteque, and the third page reprinting an online article on Vic's life that had just recently appeared. I had also looked forward to replacing the bulk of the color slides with a set of re-worked pics sent in to me by a fan (Hi, J!) who took out all the scratches on the film and made them look amazingly new. Never got around to it, and now the site is gone.

Well.

For all you rabid Seipke worshipers (and there are so many of you out there!), here's an additional B&W Spectrum shot of Vic and Frank Cuva that I found after the page went online, and four of J's re-touched color slides...

Keith Stephan by AMG and Spartan

A contemporary of Bob McCune's (entering contests in 1951 and 1952), Keith was a massive beauty who found his niche by dropping trou for AMG, Bruce of LA, Spartan and Lyle Frisbee. Here are a couple of stunning posing trunk shots by Bob Mizer, and a Spartan pouched shot that appeared in Mizer's Physique Pictorial. I'll save some of the nudes for another day... (yeah, I'm a tease!)