Uncover Bruce of Los Angeles’ classic cowboy pictures

Bruce of Los Angeles was one of the crucial prolific photographers of the male nude, and his affect was far-reaching. Artists together with Robert Mapplethorpe, Herb Ritts and Bruce Weber had been impressed by his physique pictures, which blended studio professionalism with an outdated world Hollywood glamour.

Critic Vince Aletti – who revealed his personal assortment of physique pictures final 12 months – has lengthy been a fan, curating a collection of Bruce’s works for an upcoming exhibition at Acne Paper Palais Royal, Paris. The 77 pictures within the assortment, drawn from his private assortment, are from the photographer’s Rodeo collection, created throughout his travels throughout the American West.

They mark a change in Bruce’s beforehand established type, seeing him transfer away from working with skilled fashions in a studio surroundings, as a substitute photographing cowboys and rodeo riders in their very own environments throughout Arizona, California, Oregon and Canada. He resisted embellishing or imposing narratives on his topics, letting them be as they naturally had been, fairly than performing for the digicam.

Born Bruce Bellas, the photographer started his profession as a chemistry instructor in his dwelling state of Nebraska, shedding his job after photographing a male nude. He moved to California, opening his studio in 1948, establishing a particular type which celebrated the male physique for a largely hidden homosexual viewers. His Rodeo collection was broadly recognised as a few of his most private work, and one thing he pursued for the remainder of his life, reduce brief in 1974 after Bruce suffered a deadly coronary heart assault whereas photographing a rodeo in Alberta.

‘Bruce of Los Angeles: Rodeo’ at Acne Paper Palais Royal, Paris from 3 September – 7 October 2026