11 Pics From ‘Physique Pictorial,’ the First Censorship Warriors
02/06/19
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Physique Pictorial #47, Winter 2018/2019
On the release of Physique Pictorial, Winter 2018/2019, we asked Art Director Frederick Woodruff a few questions about the issue.
Dennis Bell's "State of the Archives" editorials are one of my favorite parts of each issue. I read with surprise that this month is the 50th anniversary of being able to legally publish "undraped" photos in PP. The history of the magazine and the studio seem to be one long battle with censorship. Tell me about the current problems The Foundation faces, as well as any you face with your personal work.
Yeah, an alternate reality is materializing online, but it's colored by old 1950s values. It's really fucked up. Tumblr's fun free-spiritedness has been destroyed, and by its biggest enemy, which turned out to have been Tumblr.
And Patreon has recently started censoring its adult content creator's pledge pages. My site Lurid Digs was contacted last week and told that all images that featured naked male buttocks or any intimation of pubic hair were to be removed immediately.
Facebook and Instagram have become doubly draconian during the past year, censoring images recklessly and randomly. I could be prejudiced but I feel a lot of the censoring falls heavily into the queer art and photo category.
Naturally this has nothing to do with saving the children or "community standards" and everything to do with money. There is a push for corporations to infiltrate deeper into China. And the Chinese don't like dick.
We found this out the hard way, as our first attempts to print the new Physique Pictorial were nixed as the Chinese could not tolerate a penis in print. Female nudity didn't seem to be a problem, but nude men are verboten (or whatever the Chinese word is for puritanical suppression ) And yes, Bob Mizer fought against censorship continually. He was a key player in freeing up our freedom as adults to view whatever we wanted to view.
But worryingly the battle continues. Two months ago YouTube shut down The Bob Mizer Foundation's video channel because a three-second shot of a guy's bare ass was featured in one of Bob's vintage film clips. What few people realize is that big tech farms outsource their enforcement process to places like the Philippines, where conservative Christian employees trawl the net like Carry Nation on a bender. Situations like that are dangerous for a democracy and for homos.
Bill Bucher
I was delighted to see that you have a photo of the beefy big boy, Bill Bucher, in this issue. So is there more of this kind of inventory in the archive? It is a remarkably erotic image.
Well, Bob was a full-time working photographer and did a lot of portrait work, all kinds, to stay in the black; and the Bucher shot is a good example. His estate extends beyond just male physique photography. And yes, we plan on showing more of Bob's off the beaten path work in future volumes.
Brian Idol
Besides the famous personality symbols Mizer posted with his model's photos, he also gathered as much biographical information as he could. The Brian Idol layout in the latest volume is a perfect example. To me, it makes the photos so much more romantic and erotic. Do you think that was Bob's intention?
I agree with you, those details made the photos come to life in a special way. But it wasn't really Bob's intention. It was more about utilitarian data for each model and notes about the model's photography session and the selling of prints for each model. Bob wanted to expose subscribers to the athleticism of the models (what they ate, how they worked out, stuff like that). More than just promoting his photography, Bob was about the entire male physique movement that was coming into its own in the mid '50s. So he would also feature and promote other photographers, artists, illustrators, and gymnasium managers. Anyone and anything that was part and parcel the male beauty principle.
Frank Albaugh
I love that you are publishing images of fan notes and ephemera. Astonish me with a few items you have found?
One of Dennis' aims as the founder and editor of the Physique Pictorial is to present the full scope of Bob's work. Not just the photographs, but the props, the set designs, Bobs diary entries and letters. All of that sort of ephemera is really popular with our subscribers. I love the letter we just printed in the new volume. A fan note, scrawled out in pencil, sent to one of Bob's hunkiest models, Frank Albaugh. The note, addressed to Frank, read simply: "Dear homosexualist, yes I love you, I love you, I love you." That was it. No return address, no signature -- just unmitigated love for Frank's massively muscled form.
Love letter to Frank Albaugh
Guarding against theft
Besides being censored at every turn, is The Foundation also being ripped off? I see Michael Stokes is a volunteer, enforcing copyright. You couldn't have picked a better pit bull. And I mean that in the most flattering way. We should all have Michael batting for us in our corner.
Bob's work has been pirated since the '60s when magazines were taking his images and printing them without acknowledgment. And you can imagine what's gone down with the arrival of the Internet, regarding pirating. It's an ongoing process of keeping the integrity of the archives safeguarded.
Pictured: David Davis, 1961
The Paradox of Porn
I am a big fan of Don Shewey and his new book The Paradox of Porn and I am so glad you interviewed him in the new Pictorial and asked him about his favorite porn because I agree 100%. Frederick, would you pull back the curtain and tell us your favorites?
Any porn from the 1970s captivates my attention.
Presently, I'm obsessed with a site that launched early this year called Growlboys.com. It's sort of like the furries phenomenon come to life, but not in a ridiculous way. The guys running the site are culling from old mythological archetypes and stories about young guys transforming into werewolves and minotaurs after a sexual initiation And they're using topnotch porn directors to shoot their scenes. The whole thing is sort of epistolary too, which gives it a literary air. You just have to believe it to see it.
How do we help you battle ongoing censorship in LGBT media?
What's the best way for folks to get a subscription to the new Physique Pictorial?
Yeah, a subscription is the best way to as each volume is a collectors edition. You can do that here (https://store.bobmizerfoundation.org/collections/physique-pictorial). I'm happy to say volume 42, our first volume of the relaunch, is already up on eBay selling for hundreds of dollars, which means it's officially considered rare and collectible. We only have a handful of that volume left. It's great to see that Bob's vision keeps opening up into the culture, he'd really love that. And with queer censorship gaining a foothold again, we need Bob more than ever.
Pictured: Duo by John Arnt
Carmelo Blasquez
Chivas Clem
Grant Haugen by John Arnt, 1954
Gerardo Vizmanos
Paperbacks in the Foundation archives
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