Magnificent Specimens

10 vintage Bob Mizer homoerotic images to energize your day

Here’s one dead tree magazine worth its weight.

The Bob Mizer Foundation, named for noted photog Bob Mizer, is now publishing print editions of Physique Pictorial, the long-running magazine devoted to Mizer’s historic images of men wearing very little and in homoerotic poses.

Mizer began his career in the 1940s photographing bodybuilders in straps (a sort of early G-string). The sexually charged nature of his work landed him in legal hot water in a time before such imagery was still taboo. Despite a brief stint in prison, Mizer continued his long career devoted to male photography undeterred. He launched Physique Pictorial in 1945. Mizer’s work became influential, inspiring photographers from Robert Mapplethorpe to Herb Ritts, and even the kind of Andrew Christian underwear ads we are bombarded by today.

In honor of the latest release of the seminal mag, we’ve combed its archives for some of our favorite Physique Pictorial images from years gone by. Note that all these images are relatively safe for work, which is often not the case when it comes to Mizer-style photography.

So, click through and have a look-see, enjoy the view, and then head over to the Physique Pictorial website for a celebration of the male form. You can thank us later.

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9 Comments*

  • PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS

    We sometimes don’t realized how hard it was for Gays in the past to see anything even remotely erotic……

    As for #7 don’t think ever saw a guy probably able to rim himself
    :-p

    • Bryguyf69

      There’s actually an annual competition for men who can f*ck themselves, suck themselves and rim themselves.

      As for old time erotica, yes, with instant streaming on smartphones, kids today don’t realize how tough it was in the past. One of my patients said that to masturbate, he used to have to pull out a projector and projection screen. And each film reel only lasted a few minutes. Another said that he used to save up for months to afford the $25 porn magazines that had cum shots. And yet another said that before the video age (or phone sex), they used to masturbate to audio cassettes of people talking dirty and moaning. About $30 per tape.

      I have a pretty decent archive of gay artifacts and I’m actively trying to get a copy of one of those audio tapes. All we have are ads for those tapes but I have never heard an actual tape.

      I think the most advance form of electronic erotica these days is virtual reality porn. I’ve experienced it on Occulus goggles and it’s mind-blowing. The virtual woman was literally a few feet away from me doing her thing in 3 dimensions. I’ve also seen web-enabled sex toys for couples (and strangers) where you can control one another’s dildoes, simulated mouths,anuses and vaginas though the web via smartphone.

      Who knows what’s cummin’ around the corner in the next 20 years?

    • TimothyBeauchamp

      Word! Rim himself! Great minds think alike. LOL!

  • Josh447

    Haha very funny. I wonder if number one has any idea how many knees he’s buckled at a single glance.

  • Bryguyf69

    My girlfriend’s grandfather posed for Mizer/AMG and we still have his posing strap. Love the contour pouch. Paid his way through college.

  • jaack

    These were the ONLY and mean ONLY way of seeing a male not fully dressed. Even into the mid and later 1960s, Physique Pictorial was the only “skin” magazine. Its publishers subject to jail & truly CENSORED by USPS. There was no cheaper way to get this “OBSCENE MATERIAL” as these magazines were labeled. First Amendment didn’t exist for men who liked pictures of other men, NOT children but grown MEN. Eventually, Larry Flint brought obscenity to the courts, lost and won cases. Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine was very outspoken about publishing pro-gay content. Kudo, Hugh, he saw censorship of the human body imagery was and remains a First Amendment right. In some states, even a picture of a dildo can lead the state to prosecute people on obscenity. This even applies to married couples!

    • jaack

      My last comment about “In some states, even the possession of a dildo can lead the state to prosecute people. This even applies to married couples!” This is condition exists even TODAY in 2018. This boggles the mind that these remain on the books. Less than a year ago adultery was no longer illegal in New Hampshire. Archaic laws about sexual peccadillos remain on the books throughout the country, firmly entrenched throughout the sexual/stupid spectrum. Virginia is still considering a revival of its anti-sodomy law, a year after it was officially struck down by an appeals court. More than a quarter of states still have laws that outlaw sex between gay Americans; nine other states prohibit oral or anal sex between anyone. In Washington State, anyone who picks up a hitchhiking sex worker can have his car confiscated. In Oregon, public restrooms can only be so public; two people must never use the same stall. And never mind quartering soldiers; Arizonans can’t shelter two vibrators in the same house. Can’t we the people, get out elected officials to remove these assaults on our personal freedoms and LIBERTY?

  • mz.sam

    Ahh-h-h…I love me some jiz hunk one and only great Dick DuBois (#5).

  • Inthelife

    so fresh faced and innocent looking! as a young black kid, these were the only same gender images I had available. They served their purpose but it was really refreshing to see black images show up during the 60’s! Now I say guys that reflected me but I still retained my appreciation for Caucasian models to this day. Now I have a bouquet of various male imagery with all types of men represented! Progress can be slow but it is relenting! Does anyone remember a model named Ronald Mills? He was gorgeous! I had the opportunity to meet him when he transferred to our high school in Queens. I was totally stunned when I saw him in the hallway, no SHOCKED, is a better word! If you weren’t gay and didn’t have a closet full of magazine, you would not know who he was but I did! We became ‘friends’, not sex, just friendship! He was so sweet and mannerly but his malenasti oozed out of his skin! He created quite a stir at my school especially when he hooked up with the prettiest black girl in my school! This was the 60’s; mixed couples caught hell but he was tough as he was handsome. don’t know if he’s still with us but I would like to find pictures of this sexy, handsome, polite male beauty!

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