Bruce Bellas
Template:Short description 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.<ref name= "erotica">Template:Cite news</ref>
History and influenceEdit
Bruce Harry Bellas was born in Alliance, Nebraska on July 7, 1909.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He worked as a chemistry teacher there until 1947,<ref name= "beefcake">Template:Cite news</ref> when he began photographing bodybuilders in Los Angeles, California, 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.<ref name="beefcake"/> Bellas also produced a number of early homoerotic 8 mm films with titles such as Cowboy Washup and Big Gun for Hire.<ref name="eghc"/>
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.<ref name="eghc"/>
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.<ref name="beefcake"/> 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.<ref name= "California">Template:Cite news</ref>
Bellas died while on vacation in Canada in July 1974.<ref name="gayletter">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills on August 9.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Bellas was in a long-term relationship with favorite model Scotty Cunningham,<ref name="hard"/> to whom he left his estate.<ref name="band"/>