Collection Guide
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Bruce of Los Angeles photographs
Coll2017-011
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Bruce of Los Angeles photographs
creator:
Bruce of Los Angeles
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2017-011
Physical Description:
8 Linear Feet
7 boxes.
Date (inclusive): circa 1950-1974
Abstract: Photographic prints, slides, and stereo slides, circa 1950-1974, from photographer Bruce Bellas, better known as Bruce of
Los Angeles. Bruce of Los Angeles photographed male bodybuilders beginning in the 1940s and sold his photographs (including
nude images) via mail order until his death in 1974.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by model name, with unidentified images at the end.
Bruce of Los Angeles was a trading name used by photographer Bruce Bellas (b. 1909) to market his photographs of the male
physique. Bellas began photographing male bodybuilders in the 1940s when he moved from Alliance, Nebraska to California. He
quickly gained a reputation in the bodybuilding world and began photographing models in his home on Kensington Road in Long
Beach. Until 1968 postal regulations did not allow frontal male nude pictures to be posted and so he would travel to big cities
with trunks of nude pictures to sell to clients from hotel rooms. He also sold photographs by mail order and was most active
in the 1950s and 1960s. In addition, he published his own magazine, The Male Figure, to further promote his photography. Bellas
continued to photograph the male physique up until his death in 1974. Following his death, Kurt Deitrick continued distributing
Bellas' photographs under the name Kensington Road.
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Date and method of acquisition unknown.
[Box/folder #, or item name] Bruce of Los Angeles Photographs, Coll2017-011, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
Collection processed by Pat Allen, Steve Fritch, David Hensley, Christian Morales, and Robert Graves, 2017.
The collection comprises photographic prints, slides, and stereo slides, circa 1950-1974, from photographer Bruce Bellas,
better known as Bruce of Los Angeles. The bulk of the collection is black and white prints from the 1950s-1960s.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bodybuilding
Photography of men
Photography of the nude