Bruce of Los Angeles (Bruce Harris Bellas) - Vintage male nude 50ies

Vintage male nude photograph.
Bruce Harris Bellas
'Bruce of Los Angeles'
(1909-1974)
Original silver print 1950s, in very good condition.
Image size 11.5 x 16.5 cm.
Photographic paper size 12.5 x 17.5 cm
Number stamped on back: 3020-05

Bruce Bellas (1909 – 1974) was an influential photographer of the physique of nude males.
Bellas was well known under the pseudonym Bruce of Los Angeles.
Bellas was born in Alliance, Nebraska and was a chemistry teacher there until 1947, when he began photographing bodybuilders in Los Angeles, California. In 1956, Bellas launched his own magazine, The Male Figure.

An extensive archive of Bellas' nude male physique photographs exists today, largely intact. His impact on physique photography is largely felt and recognized, and the works of Robert Mapplethorpe, Herb Ritts, and Bruce Weber are widely considered to be influenced by Bellas' pioneering style.