The Athletic Model Guild, or AMG, was founded by gay pornography pioneer Bob Mizer in December 1945. During those post-war years, United States censorship laws allowed women, but not men, to appear in various states of undress in what were referred to, with a wink, as “art” photographs. Mizer began his business by taking pictures of men that he knew, both gay and straight. His subjects would often pose for pictures, which, while ostensibly meant ...
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The Athletic Model Guild, or AMG, was founded by gay pornography pioneer Bob Mizer in December 1945. During those post-war years, United States censorship laws allowed women, but not men, to appear in various states of undress in what were referred to, with a wink, as “art” photographs. Mizer began his business by taking pictures of men that he knew, both gay and straight. His subjects would often pose for pictures, which, while ostensibly meant to illustrate fitness tips and the like, were clearly produced and published as homoerotic material.
A majority of the early AMG films and photos were ambiguously sexual in nature. The formula consisted of images (moving and still) of young men doing bodybuilding poses, or perhaps wrestling in pairs. Often the setup or “plot” of these shoots was fairly absurd and just served to provide a thin legal pretext for the display of the male physique.
Mizer did appear in court to face several charges over the years, including obscenity, drug use, and...
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