Bruce Harry Bellas (July 7, 1909 – July 1974) was an American photographer. He was influential in his work with
male physiques and nudes. Bellas was well known under the pseudonym Bruce of Los Angeles.
History and influence
Bruce Harry Bellas was born in
Alliance, Nebraska on July 7, 1909. He worked as a chemistry teacher there until 1947,
when he began photographing bodybuilders in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, beginning with taking pictures of bodybuilding competitions. In 1956, Bellas launched his own magazine, ''
The Male Figure''. Among physique photographers, Bellas' work was noted for having a distinctly
campy, tongue-in-cheek sensibility.
Bellas also produced a number of early homoerotic
8 mm film
8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the film strip is wide. It exists in two main versions – the original standard 8 mm film, also known as regular 8 mm, and Super 8. Although both standard 8 mm and ...
s with titles such as ''Cowboy Washup'' and ''Big Gun for Hire''.
Bellas was known to travel around the country, finding new models to photograph and also personally delivering nude photographs to customers, since they were liable to be seized by postal inspectors if sent through the mail.
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
Robert Michael Mapplethorpe ( ; November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female Nude (art), n ...
,
Herb Ritts
Herbert Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer and director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on b ...
, and
Bruce Weber are widely considered to be influenced by Bellas' pioneering style.
In 1990, the
Wessel O'Connor Gallery in New York and the
Jan Kesner Gallery in Los Angeles both exhibited a wide array of Bellas' work, furthering modern recognition of his impact.
Bellas died while on vacation in Canada in July 1974.
He was buried at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the
Hollywood Hills on August 9.
Bellas was in a long-term relationship with favorite model Scotty Cunningham,
to whom he left his estate.
References
External links
Bruce Bellas Biography
1909 births
1974 deaths
20th-century American photographers
People from Alliance, Nebraska
Physique photography
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