Collection of five (5) silver gelatin photographs of the American actor and bodybuilder Steve Reeves (1926-2000), whose acting credits included Hercules (1959), Hercules Unchained (1960), and Goliath and the Barbarians (1959). Hand signed on the verso by Bruce of Los Angeles (as opposed to the more common stamp signature). 10 x 8".

These photographs are from the personal collection of the American photographer Bob Mizer (1922 - 1992).

Provenance:

Property of the Bob Mizer Museum and Photographic Archives.

Notes:

Bruce Bellas, better known by his alias Bruce of Los Angeles, was born in rural Nebraska in 1909. In the late 1940s, he relocated westward to California in order to fully pursue a career as a professional photographer. While in California, he began taking pictures of athletes and bodybuilders most notably on Muscle Beach in Venice near the Santa Monica Pier. Immersion in this culture of competitive bodybuilding gradually led Bellas to concentrate exclusively on the sculptural possibilities of the male body.

Alongside Al Urban and Russ Warner, Bellas rapidly established himself as one of the leading physique photographers in the postwar United States. In comparison to his peers, Bellas’ approach to photography prioritized the male figure exclusively, using natural lighting and minimal staging or props to emphasize physical form and muscular detail. Through his physique photography, Bellas became one of the defining pioneers of the beefcake genre and a key documentarian of pre-Stonewall gay identity and culture.

Nothing adverse to note.

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